Just Friends
by longliveFinchel
Summary: Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry have always been the best of friends since high school... They were always there for each other, no matter the circumstances. Nothing more than friends... Well, Rachel doesn't want that anymore. She wants more. All she needs to do now is tell Finn. If only it was that easy... A/U Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of the characters.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Finn Hudson had everything at the age of 28 years old. The ownership of Burt's tire shop business, which became very successful, spreading different lines throughout the country. The amazingly beautiful penthouse on the Upper East Side with the amazing view. The awesome parties that he attended at various clubs throughout New York City, with his two main men at his side, Sam Evans and Noah Puckerman, "Puck". Last but not least, Finn treasured his good looks. He was often hit on by young women in bars. Once he was even considered one of New York City's most eligible bachelors, which he used to his advantage. He loved the many chains on one night stands he had when he had gotten completely wasted every now and then at the local club or bar.

So, when Finn Hudson woke up early Monday morning, he wasn't surprised when his room smelled like whiskey and vodka and that there was an unfamiliar blonde girl sleeping on the side of him in his bed. He also wasn't surprised when he was wearing nothing but boxers.

Throwing on a pair of pajama shorts, Finn quickly tiptoed out of his room to avoid making contact with the girl if she were to wake up any time soon. Going to the bathroom on the other side of the house, Finn grabbed his phone off the counter of the kitchen and dialed Sam's number.

"Hello." Sam answered, sounding groggy. Which, was reasonable since it was 6:15 in the morning, but to be fair, it was a Monday and they both had work. Since Finn ran the company he worked at, he really didn't have a normal time to go into work, but he liked to go in early each day because it gave him something to do instead of sit home all day. So, since he wasn't going to be getting in early today, he had to find a way to get this girl out of his apartment.

"Hey man, it's me. Look, I really need your help with something." Finn answered, pacing back and forth in the bathroom.

"What's up?" Sam asked.

"Remember how crazy that party was last night? Anyways, I think I stayed a little later than the two of you and I got a little out of hand with the drinking. There's some girl in my bed right now and I have no idea what to do... She's gonna wake up any minute now and I can't be alone with her. It'll be very awkward. Can you please come over so she can rush out? It works on all of the other girls when Puck does it." Finn explained.

"Sorry man. No can do. Quinn needs help with the baby. Last night she got pretty sick and she can't be around her. I wish I could help man. Maybe Puck can." Sam answered back.

"That's okay, man. I understand. Hope Q feels better." he replied.

"Thanks. Talk to you later." Sam said before he hung up.

Calling Puck's phone, it took three rings until he heard another groggy "hello" through the phone.

"Hey, man. Look I've got some blonde chick in my apartment and I want to get her to leave. Can you please come over and make some excuse for me to leave so it's not awkward?" he asked, hoping that Puck would give in unlike Sam.

"Can't. Last night I brought home twins. We're probably gonna keep going when they wake up. I really need to be around for that." Puck answered with pride.

"Okay. Thanks for the details man, really needed them." Finn said in a sarcastic voice.

"Look man, I'll talk to you later. I think they're waking up." Puck whispered right before he hung up.

After that Finn felt hopeless. There was no one else that he could confide in. He was just going to have to face the situation that his drunk self pulled him into. That's when it came to his brain. He knew exactly who to call. He even gave himself a mental slap across the face for not calling them first, since they were as close to each other as siblings would be close to their other siblings and they told each other everything. He just hoped that she would answer.

Hitting her contact, he waited for an answer. When he didn't get one, he hit call again. This time, the phone rang 4 times, until he heard it pick up with light breathing on the other side.

"What?" she answered rude and groggy tone, sounding like she was half asleep.

"Good morning to you too, princess." he mocked.

"Finn, it's 6:30 am and i'm exhausted, I just finished working a long night and I probably only have a few more hours of sleep. Did you call me just to tease me? Because if so, i'm hanging up." she answered.

"No, Rach, don't do that! I need your help. Look, both Sam and Puck already declined so you're my last hope. Please." he answered.

Hearing her sigh, she answered. "Okay, i'm up. What did you do this time?" she asked.

"I need you to come over like right now. I really don't wanna do that much explaining. All you need to know is that there's a blonde in my bed right now and I need help to get her to leave. I don't wanna face her alone. I don't know who she is." he explained, rubbing his forehead.

"What the hell are you asking me to do? Walk in to your apartment and tell the girl 'hey chick, you need to go?'" Rachel asked, with a little bit of anger and disbelief in her voice.

"Well, you could be a little nicer than that, but yeah, pretty much." Finn answered.

"Finn, you woke me up to ask if I can get some girl out of your house?" she asked, sounding frustrated.

"Yes, please don't be mad. Please help me Rach. I would do it for you." he pleaded.

"Finn, i'm on call. My pager could off at any minute. Why can't you just do the normal thing and face her like a gentleman instead of being a coward?" Rachel asked.

"Please." he begged.

"Okay. Fine. I'll be there in 20 or 25, depending on traffic. But you're gonna get it after she's gone." she warned him before hanging up the phone.

"Thank you, Berry." Finn whispered before walking out of the bathroom. Once he got out, he was taken by surprise was standing in the kitchen, wearing one of Finn's button up shirts. It was huge on her but she didn't seem to care. Slowly walking up to her, she looked up from her phone and stared at him. She looked like she was just as nervous as he was, but that may have been due to the fact that he was shirtless with a pair of pajama pants.

"Hello, umm..." Crap, he forgot her name.

"It's Mandy." she said it for him.

"Mandy.. There's food in the pantry, so if you're hungry help yourself. I've got to start getting ready for work." He said, walking past her.

"Okay, thanks." she called to him, before he made his way to the bathroom in his room. Once he got out of the shower, he prayed that she would be gone by the time he stepped back into the kitchen. Once he had brushed his teeth, sculpted his hair in it's normal form, and put on his suit, tie, socks, and shoes, he walked into the kitchen to find Mandy still sitting at the kitchen table eating.

"I made you coffee. I hope you don't mind." she said, standing up nervously.

"Thanks. I really appreciate it." he smiled, not knowing what to do.

"After I finish eating, can I use your shower?" she asked.

"Sure." he replied.

Before she could answer, they both heard a key turn into the front door of the penthouse. Looking at it, Finn felt relieved when the now opened door revealed a short brunette with her hair up in a messy bun, no makeup on, and wearing scrubs and tennis shoes. Once she looked at him, she gave him a look which gave Finn the clue that whatever she was about to do, he would have to go along with it.

"Finn? Baby, I'm home. I want my morning kiss!" she called from the front door, which worked because Mandy couldn't exactly see her from where she was sitting.

Mandy stopped chewing on her cereal once she heard the voice. "Who is that?" she asked, looking concerned.

"Oh, that's no one." Finn replied, pretending to be scared.

Once Rachel walked into the kitchen, she pretended not to see Mandy and walked straight over to Finn. Wrapping her arms around him, she gave him a big hug. "Oh, you would not believe the night I had."

"How about we go talk about it in the bedroom?" Finn asked, pretending to get her away from the blonde.

Once Rachel turned around, her acting really began.

"Who's this?" Rachel asked, with tears in her eyes.

"She's no one, Rach. She had no place to go so I let her spend the night, that's it." he pretended to make up a lie.

"If she just spent the night, then why is she wearing your shirt?" Rachel asked. Her face was bright red and tears were streaming down her face.

"I wanted to give her something comfortable to sleep in. I was being a gentleman." he was becoming amused with this game they were playing.

"He's lying to you." The tall blonde stood up to face the short brunette. "We totally slept together last night. I mean I can't really see why he wouldn't cheat.. Look at you.."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rachel asked, crossing her arms over her chest, she actually began to feel hurt, the fake tears almost turned real.

"Well, let's be honest, sweetie.. You're not really the looker. I mean, you must make real bucks to be able to keep a guy like him.. Just saying.. Sorry I had to be the one to break the news to you honey.. Hot and ugly don't mix. Hot and hot mix. Maybe that's why your sweetheart here strayed. I guess we can all agree that from this, you learned your lesson." she smirked before she slipped her number into Finn's pocket.

Walking up to the tall woman, Rachel threw her hand back, and placed a hard slap against the woman's right cheek. "That's what you get for calling me ugly." Pulling her arm back again, she placed her hand in a fist and aimed for her left eye. "And, that's what you get for sleeping with my husband."

"Now, you better get the hell out of my house right now. Or else, I will not only be calling the cops. I will be calling animal control. Because all you are Is a stupid mutt in the gutter." Grabbing her by her hair, Rachel threw her out into the hall.

"I will always have three things that you will never have. Dignity, respect, and Finn. Now get the hell away from my home, slut!" Rachel yelled, slamming the door behind her.

Turning back to Finn, who was standing behind her, she wiped away her tears, and began to speak. "I can't believe you woke me up for this.." she said, sitting on the couch, rubbing her forehead.

"I'm so sorry. If I would've known she would've said those things to you.. You know what she said isn't true right?" he asked, sitting next to her.

"It's okay. I'm too tired to even care." she smiled, her eye lids slowly falling and rising.

"That slap and that punch.. Wow, why aren't you an actress?" he asked, smiling down at her.

"Because, I have this thing called a Finn and If I would've become an actress I probably would never see or talk to you. And by the looks of this morning, you need me more than you know." she laughed. "Oh, and tips for next time. Find out my schedule before calling me that early and don't bring random skanks to your house. There.. Simple as that." Rachel instructed him like his mom used to.

"I was drunk off of my ass, Rach.." He began.

"Here's another tip. Finn, you're not getting any younger.. I think it's time for you to start becoming more serious. I mean It was fine when you were my age, but it's not like that anymore. All that drinking and partying, it's not good for you or your body. Maybe you should start looking for the one. You're young, and you're not the ugliest guy in town. I think it'll make you really happy, unlike all of this partying crap with Sam and Puck, which I will be having a serious discussion with the two of them in a little while because they shouldn't of left you alone like that.." she told him.

"You sound like my mom." he replied.

"Finn, i'm being serious. You've already got a head start with the success of your company. Now, start looking for the girl. Don't you want to be happy?" she asked.

"I do. But, i'm just not sure there's a girl out there for me. I mean, look at me. I'm a mess." he frowned.

"If I can sit here and talk to your messy self, I'm pretty any other girl would too. You've just got to find the right one." Rachel smiled, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Besides, you're not a mess. You're New York City's most eligible bachelor." she laughed, using air quotes with her fingers.

"Ha-ha, so funny." Finn replied with sarcasm.

"Look, just consider it okay? You're my best friend in the whole entire world, and it kills me to see you like this. I really want you to be happy." she smiled.

"Okay, I will. I'm gonna head out to work. You can go in my bed if you want. You look exhausted." he said, looking down at her as he got up from the couch.

"If it's okay, can I crash on the couch instead? I don't really think I wanna be sleeping in your bed after you know.. and it'll take too long to get to my apartment. Plus, your place is closer to the hospital if I get called in." she explained.

"Rach, you have keys to my house. You don't have to ask to stay here. This place is basically like your second home. You can stay whenever you want." he smiled, kissing her on the forehead.

"I'll see you later okay?" he said, heading towards the front door.

"Lock the door behind you." she instructed, which he did before he walked out of the front door.

Resting her head on the small pillow, Rachel's head was spinning. Why did this have to be so difficult for her? Why did she have to be head over heels, completely in love with her best friend.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Rachel really didn't know what she was thinking, being in love with her best friend and all. She'd known for ages that she was nuts for having these types of feelings towards him, but at some point she'd already accepted it.

They used to not be as bad, the feelings of love and lust. But, as time's went on, those feelings grew stronger. Now, the only time she didn't think of him or her feelings were when she was working.

Seeing as though she was a pediatric surgeon she never really had time to zone out, so she would completely ignore the thought of him. She really did thank her crazy working schedule, it kept her from thinking more crazily and doing and saying things that she would regret. The only free time she did get was usually on days when she wasn't needed or the days that she was on call but didn't have to be at the hospital until or if the did call her back into the hospital for an emergency procedure or if they needed an extra person to make rounds and stuff like that. In those times of freedom, he would be scanned back into her brain until she would be preoccupied with something else.

It wasn't always like this for her. Hell, Rachel could remember the times she would scoff when people told her how cute she would be with Finn. Finn was always like the extremely annoying older brother to her. Yes, they always had their good times, but she never really saw him as boyfriend material. He was her best friend. That's all she thought of him.. Until about a few years ago.

It all started when Rachel was in her junior year of high school and Finn was in his senior year. Rachel remembered that it was sometime around January. She remembered because it was a few weeks after her and Finn celebrated New Years Eve together.

They would do this yearly thing where they would sneak up to the roof of the local grocery store. They would steal liquor and wine from their parent's cabinets and they would buy a bunch of food before the got up to the roof. Then, they would get really drunk and spend the night on the roof, watching fireworks and waiting to bring in the new year with each other. Once their phone clocks would hit 12:00 am, they would watch the big show in the sky and share predictions with each other for the new year. Rachel really did miss it. Now, Finn would just take her to the ball drop in Time Square if she didn't have to work, and after they would both get a drink at the local club, which was usually packed. The thing that would really amuse Rachel was that Finn would get wasted with Puck before 10:00, and at 12:00, she would painfully watch as Finn would grab a random chick and kiss her before getting her number. Things were different now. New Year's Eve used to be the funnest holiday besides Christmas to her And now, the only she got out of New Year's Eve was when she would help deliver a baby into the New Year when she would be working. Things weren't the same, and they both knew it.

Anyways, she was sitting alone at a table in the courtyard, studying for her geometry test. Before she knew it, she wasn't alone. Looking up from her book, she was faced with four football players sitting with her at her table. Rachel recognized all of them from her classes, but she still felt uncomfortable, as she wasn't the most popular girl in school, and they weren't known to be the nicest guys in the school.

Closing her book, she placed it in her book bag and began to get up, before Mark Parker, the football player on the side of her, pushed her shoulder down, forcing her to sit back down.

"Can I help you?" she asked nervously, facing him.

"Chill, Berry. We just wanted to say hello." Mark laughed.

"Great. Hello. Can I go now?" She asked, rolling her eyes.

"Not just yet. Guys?"

Before she knew it, she was hit by a massive wall of cold, icy slush. Wiping her eyes, she looked up and noticed that everyone was laughing at her. Getting her book bag, Rachel jumped up and ran towards the bathroom with tears in her eyes. Once she got to the mirror, she cried even more realizing how much of a freak she looked like with different colored slushy all over her clothes.

Hearing the door open behind her, she slightly jumped. Turning around, she felt relieved to find Finn standing behind her with sympathetic eyes looking at her in the mirror.

"I know. I look pathetic." She frowned as she wiped away the slush from her face with a wet paper towel. "Gosh, why does it have to be cold ice that they throw at me?" She scoffed, wiping away the tears that ran down her eyes.

Walking over to her, Finn took the paper towel and started wiping her face for her.

"Look at me. You're anything but pathetic, Rachel. You're my best friend and you're the coolest person I know. So, don't let those stupid jocks tell you otherwise. Because, Rachel, if you could see yourself the way I see you, you wouldn't be feeling this way right now. By the way, I'm pretty sure you won't be seeing too much of Mark and his pack of wolves anytime soon. I may have to go to detention for like two afternoons, but they totally had it coming. I'll always protect you Rach. That's what friends are for. I mean, I protect you from scumbags like them and you protect me from my wardrobe, unless Kurt hasn't already beaten you to the job. We're a team, right?"

"Right." She smiled up at him. That speech broke through to Rachel's heart. From that moment, her feelings for him became very different than what they were before. She saw him in a new light. In that moment, Rachel Berry knew she was in love with Finn Hudson.

Getting up from the couch, Rachel checked her phone and her beeper. It was now 12:13 pm, and she had gotten no pages, so she still had free time. Once she got into the kitchen, she wanted to find something to do. After gulping down a glass of orange juice, she looked around the place.

"Gosh, Hudson. You are a pack rat." She sighed.

She wondered how "Mandy" didn't run out screaming this morning from the mess he had in this place. It was so messy that she wondered if he even cleaned the place after clearing all of the boxes out when they moved here from Lima.

Walking over to the dishwasher, it was loaded with dishes that needed to be picked up. After picking up the dishes, she placed the ones in the sink into it and washed those. While waiting for those to be washed, she walked over to the utility room, gathering the huge pile of dirty clothes on the floor, placing it into the washing machine, after placing the already washed clothes into the dryer along with a fabric softener. Gathering the already dried clothes in a basket, she walked back over to the living room, turned on the tv, and started folding Finn's clothes for him.

After about another 3 hours of doing house work, Finn's whole house was spotless, including the floors that she swept and mopped and his bed, which she washed the blankets, sheets, and pillow cases. After folding all of his clothes, she placed them where they belonged, and picked up all of the clean dishes as well. After Finn's bed stuff was nice and clean, Rachel made his bed and smiled at her success into cleaning the dirty place.

Sitting down at the counter, Rachel pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?" The voice asked.

"Hey, San. Look, I have nothing to do, I'll be there in a few minutes." Rachel told her.

"Okay. See you then." The voice answered, before hanging up.

Leaving the apartment, Rachel turned off all of the lights, and locked the door behind her. Once she got to the little apartment in Manhattan, she knocked on the door 3 times before her Latino friend answered with a smile on her face.

"Hey, girl. What brings you here?" Santana smiled wide.

"I really need my girl talk." Rachel replied, walking in to the apartment.

"Good thing you came by. Quinn's here with Jeremy. Brittany just put him to sleep, and theirs also coffee. We're sitting at the table, if you want to join."

"I'm not intruding, am I?" Rachel asked concerned.

"Hell no. Come on Berry, get your skinny ass to the table with the rest of us." Santana said, walking towards Brittany and Quinn who were talking at the small round table.

"Look who decided to finally show her face." Quinn smiled, standing up to hug Rachel. "I was beginning to think you lived in that hospital."

"I know, I know. I've just been really busy." Rachel smiled, hugging Quinn.

"That would explain the scrubs." Brittany smiled, hugging Rachel.

"Yeah." Rachel yawned.

"Here, have some coffee, sleepy head." Santana laughed, grabbing a coffee mug from the cabinet and filled it with the dark brown liquid, handing it to Rachel, who was now sitting at the table with the other two.

"Thanks." She smiled, as Santana joined the rest of them at the small table.

"You don't have work today Ray?" Quinn asked.

"Not yet. I'm on call. I was supposed to be getting my rest today. I worked all last night."

"I can tell. The circles under your eyes look so dark. It's almost like you have two black eyes." Brittany replied.

"Yeah, I know. I was supposed to get all of my sleep this morning once I got off. But, Finn thought otherwise." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Oh, oh. What did Frankenteen do this time?" Santana asked.

"He called at around 6:00 this morning, asking me to come over and get rid of the one night stand he had last night." Rachel sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"You said no, right?" Quinn made sure.

"Not exactly.." Rachel replied with a guilty expression.

"Rachel.." Quinn began.

"I know, Quinn.. It's just that, he's my best friend and I know he would do it for me, so.."

"What happened?" Brittany asked, looking interested.

"I pretended to be his wife, she called me ugly, I slapped and punched her, then I kicked her out the door on her ass." Rachel explained, before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Wow.. If I were you, that bitch wouldn't of even made it out the front door. I would've went all Lima heights on that slut's skanky ass." Santana exclaimed.

"I'm sure you would've." Quinn laughed, before noticing Rachel's sad expression.

"There's something you're not telling us, Rach." Quinn told her.

"I know. Can you guys keep a secret?" Rachel asked the three girls.

"Of course. Anytime. Whatever you need." were answered back as replies.

"I'm in love with him. I always have been. Ever since All of us were in the 10th grade." Rachel confessed.

"Aww, Berry's got a thing for pyramid nipples.." Santana said, with Brittany hitting her arm. "Sorry" Santana whispered towards Rachel.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything." Rachel inhaled deeply, wiping away the tears that fell from her eyes.

"Hey, Rachel, don't beat yourself up about this. Love isn't easy. You can trust us. We've been through hell and back in high school, right Britt?" Santana asked, grabbing Brittany's hand.

"Yes, love can be a bitch sometimes, Rach." Quinn joined in. "You don't think Sam and I just woke up one day and decided to break up in high school? It took a lot of work to get where we are now."

"I know it's hard and stuff, but, I mean, he doesn't even look at me that way." Rachel wiped another tear away.

"Then, sit him down and tell him how you feel Rach." Santana told her.

"I'm too scared, San. What if he gets disgusted? What if he never looks at me the same? Or worse, what if he doesn't feel the same way? Do you know how humiliating that will be guys?" Rachel cried.

"Rachel, don't take this the wrong way, but, all I hear are "What ifs" You'll never know if you never try. For all you know, Finn feels the exact same way and he's waiting for you to say something." Brittany explained.

"You're absolutely right, Britt. Gosh, why am I such a coward?" Rachel asked, cursing herself under her breath.

"You're not a coward, Rach. It's totally normal to be scared to tell someone you love them. It's a huge step." Quinn said, placing her hand over Rachel's.

"Thanks, Q. Thanks all of you." Rachel smiled at her friend's support.

"You're welcome. Oh, while you tell him, can you also tell him to let off Sam a little. Those three... I don't even know where to begin.." Quinn sighed. "Sam came in at 2:39 this morning."

"Oh trust me, I've had a little talk with Finn already. I told him he needed to grow up and focus on his career instead of going to parties every night." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"They're both being terribly influenced." Quinn replied.

"Puckerman.." All three of them said in unison, before sighing.

"We really need to find him a girlfriend. Maybe then, we'll get our normal guys back. Any suggestions?" Santana asked.

"There is this nice girl who works at my office. Her name's Chelsea. I'm pretty sure she's around our age range." Brittany smiled.

"Could you talk her into it?" Rachel asked.

"Talk her into it?" Santana laughed.

"It's Puck we're talking about here." Rachel replied with a smile.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow morning." Brittany replied with laughter.

"Good. I need my husband back. Not Finn or Puck's wingman, as he calls it." Quinn smiled.

"Guys, I just came up with best idea.." Santana blurted out.

"What?" They all asked.

"It just came to me.. Rachel was going on about how she loved Finn and all that. I was thinking.. Finn has his wingmen, and so will she.." Santana smiled her devious smiled.

"Are you crazy, Santana?" Rachel asked, looking at her like she just told them she was going to jump off of a bridge.

"Wait, what are you talking about Santana?" Quinn asked curiously.

"We will go to all of the clubs that Finn, Sam, and Puck go to, and we will hang out with them and drink with them, and dress incredibly hot, don't worry, Rachel, leave the dressing to me, and unlike Finn's wingmen, we will only be looking for one guy for Rachel. Finn himself. And we will not stop until he has basically fallen into her arms with hearts in his eyes like in the cartoons." Santana explained her plan to the three girls, before taking a sip of her coffee with a smirk on her face.

"That is the dumbest plan I've ever heard, babe." Brittany whispered.

"Okay, Santana? Have you forgotten that I have a very busy job, and I'm barely ever off at night and if so, like so late?" Rachel asked.

"Have you also forgotten the fact that I have a 3 month old baby?" Quinn asked.

"Just, please consider it. I mean, Rachel, weekends, and Quinn, it's called a babysitter." Santana replied.

"Okay, fine. I'll think about it.." Rachel replied.

"Yeah, me too. As long as it's like only one night a weekend or such." Quinn followed behind.

"Great! This is going to be awesome! Ladies, Finn won't know what hit him once were done. I mean, once Rachel's through with him. This is going to be fun! Let's do this!" Santana shouted.

"I said i'll think about it." Rachel reminded her.

"Berry, I know you. You'll go home and call me a few hours later approving. It's basically a yes." Santana told her.

"Fine. But, only on weekends, when I'm not working." She compromised.

"Okay. What about you Fabray?"

"Fine. But, like Rachel said, only on weekends. Like on Friday or Saturday." She answered.

"Awesome! What are we gonna be called?" Santana clasped her hands together, smiling at the three of them.

"Our regular names.." Rachel replied.

"How about Rachel's angels? Like Charlie's angels. Except instead of Charlie, it's Rachel." Santana smiled.

"Yeah.. Sure.." Quinn laughed.

"Good luck with that.. I have to get going. I'll see you guys later, okay?" Rachel said, getting up from the table, realizing they had been talking for like two hours and it was now 6:14 pm.

"Okay. Hope everything goes well for you and Finn! And, if not, Rachel's angels will be waiting this weekend!" Santana called.

"Great." Rachel called back, laughing and rolling her eyes at Santana. She didn't know what she would do without her friend.

Placing her hands in her pocket, Rachel realized she left everything at Finn's house. Telling the taxi driver to stop at Finn's building, she paid the driver and made her way up to his penthouse.

Walking in, she found him sitting on the couch, watching the sports channel and drinking a beer. Must've been a bad day at work, Rachel thought to herself.

Sitting beside him, Rachel laughed as he nearly jumped to the roof.

"Careful, jump any higher, you might turn into Peter Pan and fly away." She laughed. "What are we watching?" She asked, grabbing the remote from his hand.

"Football." He smiled.

"Ehh, gross." She said, flipping though the menu until she turned to a rerun of Keeping Up with the Kardashians. "More like it." She smiled.

"Not just yet!" Finn exclaimed, jumping on top of her and tickling her to get her to let go of the remote. "Give already, Berry! You know you're gonna lose!" Finn laughed along with Rachel's hysterical ones.

"Never!" she snorted with laughter. "I refuse to surrender!" She called out!

Grabbing the remote from her squirming hands, Finn held it in his hands, while still on top of each other. Staring into Finn's beautiful brown eyes, Rachel was about to go in for it.

Then, a loud beeping sounded through the room. Jumping up, Rachel grabbed her beeper and purse, and gave Finn a quick hug.

"Gotta to get to work before I'm too late and something bad happens. My ass'll be on the line. See you later, Hudson! Don't get into any trouble while I'm gone!" She yelled before she ran downstairs to the nearest Taxi.

Thinking while on her way to the hospital. Only one thing crossed her mind. Dammit, Rachel!

* * *

**Thanks for all of the nice reviews, I really appreciate all of them.. I'm so sorry about the long delay for the second chapter, I've just been so busy... I also want to apologize if I get anything wrong about Rachel's job as a surgeon. I'm not one, so my facts about the hours she works might not be accurate. Just wanted to let anyone who notices it know. Other than that, that's it. I really hope you liked my new chapter! Review! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Looking at herself in the mirror, Rachel really didn't know what she had gotten herself into. She really didn't think it was a good idea from the start. So, when she tugged her incredibly short and tight black dress, she knew she'd made a huge mistake agreeing to Santana's little plan. Seeing herself in the mirror, she really didn't even recognize herself.

After getting home from work late that afternoon, Rachel could've easily canceled with the mood that she was in from earlier that day. First things first, she spilled coffee all over her scrubs, which made her have to change her scrubs, which made her late for rounds, which also pissed her boss off, leading to mind blowing yelling, not to mention the stench of his morning breath. The guy really needed a tooth brush.

To make things way better than they were already going, a pair of arrogant and rude parents seemed to think that their child's stomach pains would simply go away with the click of a button. Once Rachel told them that they had to take an x-ray before any work could be done, they started yelling their heads off at her too. She was just a walking target today, wasn't she? Once the pediatrician came in, she calmed down the parents of the patient, silently apologized to her, and released her to go make her daily grand rounds. Seeing as though she wasn't really needed anywhere else at the moment, Rachel went into an empty on call room and sat silently as the many tears rolled down her face. She was used to parents being worried about their kids, but the words that they threw at her really hurt. She wasn't used to people like the two of them.

"Can we get an actual medically trained professional in here? Not some teenager with a pair of scrubs looking at our son's charts?" The man yelled."

"Sir, I know how worried you are right now, but we have to get the x-rays in to know what's actually going on." Rachel replied, a little bit of fear sitting in her throat.

"Pshh, x-rays. Do you even know what an x-ray is little girl?" the mother replied, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sorry that your son is in pain right now, but you don't need to be so cruel." Rachel replied, holding back her tears.

"Then do something!" the man yelled, causing Rachel to slightly jump.

"I can check the chart again. But there's probably nothing we don't already know." Walking over to the bed, Rachel picked up the chart and scanned it again. "No allergies.. Does your son have small toys around the house? Like figurines, or something that he can swallow?" she asked, while the pediatrician came back in the room with the x-rays.

"Thank God the real professional is with us now." the mother exclaimed. "Someone get this little girl out of the room and let the grown ups do the talking." she said, looking at Rachel.

To top the rest of the day off, she was thrown up on. Which made her change her clothes again for the second time that day. She just really had a terrible day, and just wanted to go home and sleep it off. So, when Santana texted her the time and club to meet at, Rachel really wasn't up for it. Then, she remember that, as crazy as it sounded, she needed to give it a go. If this was her only chance at getting Finn, then so be it. So, she picked up her phone and called Santana, confirming that she was in.

Once the clock hit 5:15, Rachel was walking through Brittany and Santana's front door with her scrubs on and her hair in a messy bun. Santana specifically instructed her to come straight to her apartment. She made sure to also let Rachel know that she was taking over her hair and wardrobe.

Closing the door behind her, she tossed her bag on the table, and flung herself on the couch, placing her arm of her eyes while taking deep breaths. After about a few minutes of staying in the same position, Rachel heard footsteps coming from the back of the apartment.

"Look guys, sleeping beauty finally arrived." Santana exclaimed sarcastically, gaining laughter from Quinn and Brittany.

Sitting up from the couch, Rachel rubbed her eyes then rolled them at the three women standing before her.

"Real funny.." she replied.

"I know, i'm hilarious... Now come on, Cinderella, we have to get you ready for the slutty ball, if you know what I mean.." Santana winked, grabbing Rachel's hand and pulling her towards the back. "But first, you could use a serious shower. You reek, is that puke I smell?"

"Yeah.. Today wasn't exactly my best day, so to speak." Rachel slightly huffed.

"That's okay." Santana said, pushing Rachel into the bathroom. "You have about 30 minutes to shower... Use all the soap you need." she said before shutting the door behind her.

After a very much needed steaming shower, Rachel dried off and wrapped the towel she had around her body, walking out of the bathroom after drying off.

"Good. You're out. Now, it's glam time!" Santana exclaimed, pulling Rachel to her room. "Okay, sit here." she said, leading her to the large vanity she had against the wall in her room, with dozens of sorts of make up spread out in front of her. "Let's do this."

"Oh, God.. Someone please help me." Rachel mumbled under her breath.

Now, as Rachel took in her full appearance, she couldn't believe that Santana went all out with everything. She had on a tight and short satin black dress which did a equal job of showing off her boobs and short, tan legs. She was sort of hesitant in the beginning, but Santana reminded her that in order to get Finn's attention, she had to play it safe, which met trading in goody two shoes with some slutty, sexy bar girl. She trusted Santana knew what she was doing.

Adding to her look, Santana handed her a pair of tall pumps, which made Rachel a little nervous. She never really wore heels that high. She never really wore heels at all, if she had to be honest.

"Don't look so sad, Berry. These'll help a lot. I'm pretty sure you look like a tiny house sitting next to a skyscraper when standing by Hudson. It's unhuman... I'm pretty sure he can pass as the next King Kong.." Santana commented.

"Uhmm, thanks." she slowly said, taking the heels and putting them on her feet.

Santana decided to straighten Rachel's hair as straight as pins, placing it in a high ponytail, with a slight bump. Ending everything with her make-up, Santana created a dark black smoky eye affect to her eyes, placing dark black eyeliner at the bottom and top of her eye lids, curving the lines out to make a very huge cat eye. Santana completed the look by handing her a black pearled necklace to place around her neck.

"Okay, we're finally done and you look smoking, Cat Woman.. If Finn doesn't see that tonight, then he's gay. Now, we better go before it starts to get too crowded." Santana said, huddling the girls in a small circle.

"Rachel's angels on three.. one.. two.. three.." they all said it and headed for the door. Once they got to the club that the three boys were allegedly supposed to be at tonight, according to Santana's tracker app she installed in Finn's phone a few days ago, the four girls waited outside of the loud club, behind the long line of people waiting to get in.

"Oh my gosh, this blows.. We can't be stuck out here all night. We need to come up with a plan." Santana said, turning to the three girls behind her. "I got it.. Rachel go flash the guard, he'll totally let us in."

"Santana, I agreed to your crazy plan, the super tight dress and look, but I'm putting my foot down. No nudity for me, sorry." she explained.

"Fine.. Then i'll have to." Santana replied. Skipping the long line of people, Santana walked up to the husky male with a Bluetooth gadget in his ear and a clip board in his hand, and pulled down the top of her dress. Seeing the tall man smile, Santana turned around and motioned for the three girls waiting in line to join her. Standing beside her, she looked at the man and spoke. "They're with me.." With that, they were all walking in to the club right now.

"I can't believe you actually did that." Rachel yelled over the loud music.

"What can I say? I'm a pro." Santana answered back, causing Quinn to roll her eyes.

"That was hot!" Brittany yelled, before they walked further into the bar.

"Okay, ladies.. First act of business. To the bar... No wingman is doing his, or in this case her, job right without a drink in their hand." "As for you, Rachel. Tonight's your long awaited excuse to get wasted off of your ass. Don't blow it." After Santana's little speech, they all headed to the bar. Once they got there, the bartender immediately spotted Rachel, and stopped what he was doing to attend to her.

"Why, hello there.. What can I get you, Cat Woman?" he smirked, looking her up and down. She felt completely uncomfortable, but she knew that Santana was expecting her to be different tonight. And hey, she thought to herself, maybe a little fun was just what she needed with all the stress she had right now.

Leaning against the bar while returning a smirk, she pulled him closer to her and whispered in his ear. "A martini please. Dirty and dry, just how I like it.." and with that, she pushed him away and walked back over to her friends who were giggling and watching her every move.

"Look's like Berry's finally learned from the best. I'm proud, my little student.." she laughed.. Grabbing her drink when it was finished being made, she took a sip and scanned the club, no one familiar in sight, besides her three friends.

"Are you sure they're at this club?" Rachel asked, looking around at all of the people either mingling or dancing.

"I'm sure.. Look, there's Puckerman over there, making a complete fool of himself, may I add." Santana replied, pointing across the club. Puck was dancing with a blonde, who by the looks of things, clearly wasn't interested.

"New plan guys.. Q, you occupy your hubby, Rachel, you've got Finn, of course, Britt, just find someone in here, and i'll handle the ole' Puckasaurus. Ready, go."

"Wait, I can't find him anywhere with all of these people." Quinn called.

"Me neither.." Rachel said too, but before she knew it, she was lost in the crowd and Quinn, nor the other two girls were anywhere to be seen. She was completely by herself. Well, except from the occasional male who would come up to her and ask her to dance, which she would reply with a simple no.

As time went by, she was beginning to worry that everyone left her in the place, seeing as though she was the only person that she knew right now standing in a large crowd of sweaty and very active strangers. Before she got her hopes up too soon, she began to feel relieved when she saw the person she had been longing to see all day, scratch that all week. Smiling to herself, she couldn't help but stare. He looked really good tonight. He wore a grey t-shirt, a leather jacket, dark blue jeans, and a pair of black converse.

Gaining consciousness from what seemed like an hour long gaze, Rachel took a deep breath, straightened out her dress, and made her way over to the small table he was sitting at. Walking up to the table, Rachel stopped immediately when she saw a familiar blonde fall onto his lap.. It was the same girl from Monday morning, the same one who called Rachel ugly.. She now realized that Finn was wasted off of his ass and probably didn't realize it was the same girl from that morning. She would do anything in her power to make sure she would not be going home with him again..

Walking over to the small table, Rachel threw her clutch and plopped right across from the two.

"Hello, stranger.." she smiled brightly once Finn noticed who she was. Looking at the blonde, Rachel leaned back against the chair, crossed her arms and smirked once the blonde rolled her eyes. "I guess I didn't realize they let mutts from the gutters of New York City just anywhere." Rachel said, looking at the girl.

"Rachie, chillax, she's cool." Finn said, with a bit of a groggy tone to his voice. Yep, definitely drunk.

"I'll chillax when my best friend isn't draped over the slut who called me ugly the other morning." Rachel spat back.

"Wait. So you guys aren't married?" the girl asked with amusement.

"Definitely not." Finn answered before he could even think, which made Rachel's heart crumble up into tiny pieces. He didn't feel the same way and she now figured that out.

"I may not be his wife, but i'm still his best friend.. So, get the hell away from him you dirty tramp.." Rachel hissed.

"Rachel.. if I wanted my mother at the club, I would've ask her to come.. Stop acting like her. I was perfectly fine before you came and i'm pretty sure I can make my own decisions, thank you very much.." Finn replied, taking a sip of beer. "Plus, you shouldn't talk to Mandy like that.. She's got flaws, but we all do.. And clearly you over look your own to point out hers."

Rachel was taken aback.. She could not believe that Finn of all people was telling her this.. Tears were building up in the corner of her eyes and all she could think about doing at that moment was screaming at the top of her lungs. Her best friend or practically her whole life was choosing some blonde whore that he met a few days ago over her. Great.

"Gosh, I mean Rachel, I know you wanna look out for me and all, but when will you stop treating me like a small child on a tight leash.. I need my space.. I feel like you're smothering me.." he went on.

"Well, maybe I can stop treating you like a child when you stop acting like one.." Rachel answered back..

"Well maybe I need my freedom.." Finn began.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rachel crossed her arms with hurt eyes.

"Maybe my life would be better if you weren't in it..." he answered back.

Feeling sobs make their way to her mouth, she swallowed them back and stood up from the table.

"So what? You don't wanna be friends anymore?" she asked.

"I think it's best we went our separate ways.." he stood along with her, leaving Mandy in the chair by herself. Turning towards the table, Rachel picked up her half drank Martini and tossed in his face as tears fell from her eyes.

"Where's Finn Hudson, my best friend? I don't know who you are but when you find him, tell him that I miss him.." she said, before running out of the club, sobbing at how much pain she just went through.. Falling against the brick wall outside the club, Rachel hugged her legs to her chest as she sobbed into her knees.

"Rach?" a familiar voice called.

"Q?" she said, looking up at the blonde standing in front of her. "Why are you out here?" she asked, wiping away her tears.

"I could ask you the same thing? Why on earth are you crying Rachel Berry?" Quinn asked sitting next to her on the cold ground.

"F-F-Finn said he d-d-didn't want to be my friend anymore. He chose a blonde skank over me. I was right all along.. I am pathetic." Rachel sobbed into Quinn's side as she hugged her close.

"Hey, you're NOT pathetic. And Finn clearly doesn't know what he is missing out on Ray, because you're the most amazing friend that anyone can have and i'm glad to call you mine." Quinn explained, hugging her tight.

"Why are you out here and not in there?" Rachel asked curiously.

"I don't know.. It's not really that much of an appeal to me.. I like the quiet more. I'm missing my baby too.." she smiled, watching the taxis pass on the crowded street. "Okay, how about we get you home. I guess Santana really didn't see the forecast when she put you in that small dress.

"Okay." she replied, standing up with Quinn as they took turns trying to flag down a taxi, until finally it worked. Once they got out, they turned out to be at Quinn's apartment.

Walking into the house, Rachel felt more relieved with the feeling of warmth and peace. Her ears were also still ringing from the club. Walking behind Quinn, they came into contact with a young blonde teenager.

"He's sleeping?" she asked, sounding astonished.

"Yes ma'am. It didn't really take him that long.. We were watching Sesame Street for like 20 minutes and before I knew it he was crashed out." the girl explained.

"Thank you so much, Amy. I really appreciate it. Here you go." Quinn smiled, handing the girl a 50 dollar bill. "Have a nice weekend."

"You too, Mrs. Evans." the girl called, before grabbing her bag and walking out the front door.

"Here's a blanket Rach, I'll go fix us some tea." Quinn said handing her a blanket and walking to the kitchen.

"Can I use your bathroom?" Rachel asked.

"Of course you can, Hun.. You don't even have to ask."

"Okay, thanks." She called before walking towards the bathroom in the back hall. Grabbing a piece of toilet paper, Rachel swiped it under the sink and began violently wiping away her make up, making her eyes look even more dark with smeared eyeliner, eye shadow, and mascara.

Pulling her hair down from it's ponytail, she ran her fingers through it, trying to smooth it out. Opening the cabinet, she found Quinn's make up remover and facial wash. After she was finished, her hair was in a high bun and her face was clear of any type of make up. All she had now was her dress that reveal too much for her liking and the heels that felt like knives piercing through her feet.

Quinn was waiting for her once she got out of the bathroom with a stack of pajama pants and a large t-shirt and an old pair of bunny slippers. Grabbing the clothes from her hands, she looked at her with a small smile. " It's 3:15 am, it's about to storm outside, and i'm not letting you pay for a ride home in a cab.. How about we call it a night and have a sleep over like old times?" she asked, smiling.

"Okay." she frowned, as more tears traveled down her cheeks.

"Oh, I didn't mean to make you cry. Come here." she smiled, pulling her friend in for a warm embrace. "It isn't forever Ray. You know Finn. He'll come to his senses. This isn't going to last forever. You guys are lost without each other." Quinn told her. "C'mon I made tea."

Once Rachel lied down that night, all she could think about was what happened between her and Finn. The one sentence that played threw her mind was. "You should have kissed him when you had the chance." Maybe if she did all of this wouldn't be happening, or maybe it would. She would never know.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Once the clock struck 5:30, Rachel knew that the two hours of sleep on Finn's couch was all she was going to get. Sitting up, she rubbed her exhausted eyes and walked over to the kitchen. Finding a notepad and a pen, Rachel wanted to leave Quinn a note. She didn't want to just get up and leave, leaving Quinn worried in the morning.

_"Q, I'm really sorry for you having to find out that I left like this, but I just really want to go home and take a hot bath.. I promise that we will have our own sleepover soon, but for now I just want to be alone. Please understand. I really appreciate what you did for me tonight and I can't think of a better friend who would've done the same. I love you, Quinny bear.. I hope you have a great morning. Talk to you later. -Rachel_  
_P.s, don't be mad. Sorry."_

Placing the note on the counter, Rachel grabbed her things and walked out of the door. Once Rachel got into a cab, she placed her head in her hands and tried to keep her sobs under a small tone, avoiding eye contact with the taxi driver. When she arrived in the front of her building, she ran up the stairs to her apartment, and once she got inside, she locked the door and slumped down on her couch.

After taking a hot shower and having two cups of coffee, Rachel was ready for a much needed sleep in her bed. So, once she hit her soft pillows, she fell into a very deep slumber.

By the time she felt it was time for her to get up, it was already 2:10 pm. Seeing the day totally useless, Rachel walked into her living room, snuggled under a blanket and spent the day watching movies. Once she got through her third movie, she decided that she would order in. She just hoped they would make deliveries in this frosty and wet weather. Calling the local pizza parlor, she placed in her order and waited patiently, popping in another movie.

Throwing herself into the movie, Rachel was glad that she did. She didn't want to think about Finn or anything that happened last night.

She honestly laughed at the hopeful girl she was yesterday afternoon. She couldn't believe she was so naïve to believe that a guy like Finn Hudson could love her back. She was just so shocked. She still didn't know who was at that bar last night, because he definitely wasn't her best friend that she knew and loved with all her heart. That person at the club last night was a total stranger to her and she hoped she would never have to come face to face with him. Even if it met cutting all contact from Finn.

She knew that she probably did overstep her boundaries a little last night, by calling the girl a slut and telling her to stay away from Finn even though it wasn't her place to tell her to, but she had always been protective of Finn, and sometimes it had nothing to do with the fact that she was in love with him. But maybe last night it kind of did. Rachel had to admit that she was a bit jealous of the girl, but that wasn't the whole reason she went off on her. Rachel knew that that girl was not what Finn needed in his life. Rachel could've sworn she looked like she rolled with the wrong crowd or was hung up on the wrong kind of things, like drugs and too much alcohol. Rachel was just honestly trying to protect Finn. She didn't want to be his mother figure, or boss him around, but she could understand if he thought of it being that way. She just wanted to stick to their deal they had made in high school. She would never be able to live with herself if Finn got hurt, physically or emotionally.

But the way Finn acted towards her. That was the most surprising revelation to her yet. It's like he just threw her away all at once. Like she was some sort of unwanted baggage to her for all of these years and he was waiting for the perfect moment to get rid of their friendship like he did last night. Rachel knew that she maybe did say a little too much, But Finn.. He was over reacting.. The things he said to her, the way he made her feel so embarrassed in front of that girl.. The way he looked at her while he said those things to her face.. The way he looked at her when tears were falling from her face.. The way he showed no remorse.. What was his problem?

Rachel had no idea how, but her heart broke and shattered into pieces with just one small conversation. She was so silly for believing that there was maybe a possibility that he could see her more than what she was to him already. But, last night she learned that that wasn't possible anymore. The way he denied that they were married, before she could even take a breath. It was like a reflex to him.. He wanted nothing to do with her anymore? Fine, he was now just as dead to her as she was to him.. And she was sure as hell not going to be the first to apologize.

Hearing her buzzer go off, she knew it would be the pizza delivery guy, so she told him to come up and opened the gate for him. Once she heard the door being knocked on, she paused her movie, and walked over to the door. Opening it, she saw someone. But, it wasn't the pizza guy. It was Finn.

His clothes were dripping wet, he was shivering, and he was holding a bouquet of flowers and a soaked teddy bear, with the words "I'm beary sorry", written on it. Feeling a bit of guilt seeing the state he was in, she almost asked him to come in. Shaking the horrid feeling from her system, she glared at him and slammed the door in his face. She wasn't going to let him win this one. Not after all of the cruel things he said to her last night.

"C'mon.. Please, Rach. Just please give me a chance." he shouted through the door.

Standing by the door, Rachel held her stomach as her face became hot. She knew the tears were coming, she just didn't know when they would make their appearance. Her gut felt twisted and she didn't want to move. She didn't want to open the door to Finn.

"No. Go away." she called back.

"Please, Rach. Just open the door. I want to explain. Please, I'm begging you. C'mon. I'm not leaving and it's freezing out in this hall. So, either you let me freeze to death or open the door." he said.

"You deserve it!" she shouted.

"I know I do. Just, please, let me in." he replied.

Finally, Rachel gave in. Flinging the door open, she looked up at him and rolled her now tear filled eyes.

"Wow.. You make me feel like crap and I still don't have the heart to say no to you." she scoffed, watching him walk up to her. Grabbing the flowers and teddy bear from his hand, she placed it on the kitchen table and stood in front of him, arms crossed and more tears building up in her eyes.

"Rach.." He began, but she stopped him.

"Don't "Rach" me." she hissed back. "You have no idea how I feel right now."

"Please, just let me explain." Finn begged.

"What is there to explain, huh? How you made me feel like a complete idiot? Or, how you hurt me? Finn, the words you said to me last night hurt!" she yelled. "You said you didn't want to be my friend anymore..." The tears made their appearance, in streams.

"I know. I'm so stupid and I shouldn't have even opened my mouth. I was stupid and drunk and I didn't mean a single word Rach. You have to believe me, Rachel. I would never ever want to say those things to you that I said last night and I promise you that I didn't mean a single word. Please don't cry, Rach. Please.." he said, walking closer to her.

"No. You don't get to do that. You don't get to just come in here and apologize, thinking everything's just gonna be okay. I was so humiliated last night... I thought I would be able to spend the night having fun with my friend.. You chose a girl you met in a one night hookup over me. The girl you've known since we were small children.. You don't know how much that hurt me, Finn. You don't know how bad I felt last night, walking out of there like a stupid idiot. You have no idea how long I cried last night. You have no idea, because you weren't there. I needed my best friend last night and you weren't there! You were the one who hurt me and I needed you! I needed you to tell me that everything was going to be okay and to wipe away my tears like you did for my break up with Jesse. You weren't there.. and this time you were the one who caused the damage..." she sobbed, and pushed him away as he sympathetically tried to hug her.

"Rach, i'm so sorry. I didn't know what I was thinking. I wasn't thinking clearly, obviously. I should have went after you, I know. I wasn't myself last night. I was drunk. And Mandy, she's nobody. I shouldn't have even been with her that night. Rach, I know I hurt you so bad.. I feel bad right now, and there is nothing more that I want to do than apologize to you in every way, shape, and form.. But I need you to listen to me and listen carefully. You are my best friend in this whole entire planet and I can't lose you. If you left my life for good, I don't know what I would do with myself. If you never forgave me I wouldn't be able to live with myself for the rest of my life. I can't look at you like this, knowing I did this to you. Please, I'm so sorry Rachel Barbra Berry and if you give me a second chance, I will prove to you that you aren't making a mistake. I will spend everyday of the rest of my life to making sure that i'm the best friend there is.. Just please, tell me that there's still a small chance for me... That there's a small chance for your forgiveness...

Looking at him, Rachel's heart ached at his expression. He looked hopeless and in a terrible state. His clothes were soggy. His eyes looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep. He looked exhausted, like he had been up all night. His tall, perfectly sculpted brown hair was now fallen and saggy. He looked freezing and sad. Rachel was pretty sure she even saw a few tears build up in his eyes. She then knew that no matter how hard she would try to fight the bad feeling in her stomach, Finn was telling the truth and that all he said that night really didn't mean anything. She knew that she had to say it to him. She just didn't know how. Finally, she let go.

Feeling a few tears fall from her eyes, she walked over to him. Getting on her tippy toes, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a warm embrace. She didn't even care that his clothes were wet.

"I forgive you.." she whispered into his ear, smiling when she heard a sigh of relief.

Picking her up in his arms, Finn gripped her tight, embracing this hug more than she'd expected.

"Thank you so much, Rachel. You'll never have to forgive me again, because I won't act stupid anymore. You won't regret it!" he exclaimed, picking her up again and twirling her around, as if she were weightless to him. Hugging him tight, Rachel smiled to herself. She never wanted this moment to end. She had just gotten her best friend back and there was nothing that she had to be sad about anymore.

"There is one thing I regret though.." she began.

"What?" he quickly asked, looking worried.

"Letting myself hug you in those wet clothes.. Finn you're soaked!" she exclaimed.

"I walked all the way from the flower shop." he confessed.

"Are you crazy? Do you know how cold it is outside?" she crossed her arms.

"I didn't care. I had to get here and there wasn't a taxi available fast enough." he said, with a crooked smile on his face.

"Well. First we're going to change you out of those wet clothes and then you're going to be getting lots of blankets because you're shivering and you could get sick." she smiled, walking towards her room, with him in tow.

"Wait? I appreciate the offer but I don't think pink is my color and plus, i'm pretty sure you don't wear my size." he said.

"I have an old t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants you let me borrow one day when I slept at your house. I just haven't found the time to return them." she smiled, digging through her drawers and handing the clothing items to him. "Now, get changed and I will make you some hot tea.. The pizza man should be here any minute and it's probably still raining. So, you know what that means.." she explained.

"What?" he asked, looking down at her with curious eyes.

"You're joining in on my movie night, and there's nothing that you can do about it." she giggled, watching him roll his eyes with laughter.

"Fine. Just, no more "Funny Girl". I've seen that movie far more times than I please." he laughed.

"Okay." she laughed, walking towards the kitchen again.

Once she heard the buzzer buzz again, she clarified that it was the pizza man. Once he got up the stairs, she paid him and received the pizza from him, giving him an extra tip for traveling in the rain.

Putting the pizza on the table, she set out paper plates and waited for Finn to come out of the bathroom. She really hoped he hadn't escaped through out the window.

After about 2 minutes of waiting, Rachel finally looked up to see Finn walking into the living room with just the sweat pants on. Gosh, why did he have to be so difficult around her.. It's like he knew about her secret love for him and was just waiting for her to burst at any moment. She knew that wasn't the case. She just really hoped she could get through the rest of the night without staring at Finn the whole entire time instead of the TV screen.

"So, what movie are we watching, Berry?" he asked, sitting on the side of her and pulling the blanket over his body.

"Your favorite... The Twilight Saga!" she laughed, knowing that Finn hated the movies since the day she dragged him to the movie theater to watch them.

"Uhhh.. Can't we like watch The Transformers or something?" he asked with a groan in his voice.

"No, we're watching this whether you like it or not. I have a very stressful day ahead of me tomorrow at work and I need a little Edward in my life right now." she giggled, knowing that Finn was rolling his eyes at the very moment.

"Fine. But don't expect me to pay attention to your rambling on about how much more awesome team Edward is." he said, crossing his arms as the movie started to begin.

"You're such a jerk." she whispered, before punching his arm and turning back to the movie.

Towards the middle of the movie, the whole box of pizza was gone, and Rachel was now shivering, seeing as though Finn was hogging up all of the covers. Holding her legs with her arms and clattering her teeth together from her shivery state, she tried to pay attention to the movie, but she just couldn't. She deciphered getting up and going to get another blanket from her room, but she pushed the thought back, not wanting to disrupt the movie.

As she shook more, Finn began to notice. What he did next made Rachel thank her luckiest gold stars that the only light they had was the TV screen. Because, she was pretty sure her cheeks were redder than fire from her blushing. Once he noticed that she was shivering, he pulled her close to him and wrapped the cover over the both of them as she laid flat on top of his bare chest. It was like she was in some sort of dream and she never wanted to wake up. She was so glad they made up.  



	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

It was about 11:30 pm when Finn and Rachel officially called it a night. They said their goodbyes at the front door and she watched as he walked down the hallway.

Watching him leave, Rachel did consider the fact that she may have forgiven him too quick, but then again he was her first love, and you would forgive your first love anything. She knew the choice of forgiving him wasn't easy, but if forgiveness was the key to keeping their friendship the way it was and to not loosing Finn, Rachel would do it any time. She just hoped Finn really meant what he said tonight.

Locking the front door, Rachel cleaned the living room of popcorn and other food and drinks, then folded the two blankets up. After all of this was done, she put the disk back in it's case, and made her way to her bed.

Setting her clock for 4:15, Rachel closed her eyes, knowing that a long and stressful day was ahead of her. Thinking about all that happened today, Rachel couldn't help but smile at how happy she was. Thinking of today's events with Finn she fell into yet another peaceful sleep.

By the time her alarm clock rang through her room, she abruptly sat up and turned it off. On her way out the door, Rachel debated whether or not she wanted to grab something to eat from her kitchen, but realizing she probably had nothing to eat in the pantry, she decided to stop at a local vender.

By the time she got to the hospital, she was already halfway through her cup of coffee. Getting to her locker room, she opened her locker and quickly changed into her cleaned pair of light blue scrubs.

Once she was out, she was already being ordered to start her daily rounds by one of the residents. Today was a little better with the rounds than it was Friday.. There were no mean parents and the patient's family actually let her do her job. She had a way better day. One of the best things about her day was she met the cutest little girl. Her name was Amy and she was in the hospital to have her tonsils removed and Rachel was assigned to the surgery. By the end of things, Rachel gave her an orange popsicle and rolled her out of the hospital to the parent's car. Watching them leave, Rachel smiled and waved, thanking God that she had a smooth surgery and no problems.

By the end of the week, Rachel was considering asking for extra shifts so she occupy herself, but she decided not to. She decided to let this weekend be a relaxation from all of the hard work she did this week.

At about 5:30 pm on Friday, Rachel got a call from Quinn.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Rachel, thank God you answered. Please tell me you have nothing planned for this weekend." Quinn began, sounding frantic.

"Nothing important, just hanging around the house. Why?" she asked.

"Because, Sam's family wants to have this huge gathering in Ohio, and I need someone to watch Jer. I tried to call everyone. San, Britt, even Puck. Please say you'll watch him.." she begged,

"I don't know, Q. Can't you just bring him with you?" she asked.

"I thought of that too. But, everyone's gonna be asking to hold him and see him and you have no idea how aggravating a large crowd around your 3 month old son is.. Plus, i feel he's too young to be on an airplane. Please, Rach. You're my last resort." she pleaded again.

"Quinn, i'm not good with children. Remember what happened in like freshmen year? After those kids tied me up and wrecked the house I never got asked to babysit them again. Plus, Jeremy is a small baby. I don't know the first thing about babies." she explained.

"It's not that complicated, Rachel. He won't even be that much of a bother. It's quite simple actually. All he does is eat, sleep, and poop. Oh yeah, and he loves to be held, so it's basically like playing baby dolls like we did in the first grade. Except, he's an actual baby. Come on, Rach. You can do it, please. I need you to say yes. You're the only option." she told Rachel.

"Okay, what time are you going to bring him over? and where will he sleep? I don't have a crib for him." she asked.

"Don't worry about it, I have a portable play pin for him. He'll sleep in there. And I'll bring his favorite blankets and stuffed giraffe. We'll be here at like 5:55.. We have a 6:30 flight at JFK."

"Okay. I'll try to clean up a little." she said, before hanging up.

By the time Rachel heard the buzzer ring, her whole apartment was somewhat cleaned up. Opening the door up to Quinn with Jeremy in her arms, Rachel felt a little nervous. She hoped that he would be sleeping so that when Quinn left she wouldn't have to face the possibly of him crying when she handed him over to her. But, he was wide awake. Looking straight at her with big emerald green eyes, huge lips wrapped around his pacifier, and curly blonde hair. Quinn carefully handed Rachel the small child while she dragged his two bags into the apartment and the portable play pin which would act like his crib for the next two days.

"Okay, his formula is in his diaper bag along with his bottles. I usually feed him 4-5 ounces every 2-3 hours of the day. I usually make sure that he has had 24-32 ounces per day. Also, he will let you know when he's hungry. He usually becomes a little fussy when he's hungry, also if his diaper is dirty you will know, he also gets fussy for that too. His diapers are in his diaper bag as well as his wipes and baby powder. If he gets too fussy, his pacifier usually calms him down. Oh yeah, I also have his little seat to place in the bathtub while bathing him. His soap is also in the diaper bag as well. All of his clothes and blankets are in the yellow bag. Also, he likes to have his purple giraffe with him at all times. He also likes to be rocked back and forth while being fed. He falls asleep easily that way. Okay, I think I told you everything you need to know. Also, keep him wrapped up in warm clothes and his blankets, but just not to warm. I don't want him to smother. And, the play pin just folds open. They have directions on it if you get confused. Okay. If I don't leave now, we'll never make it in time. Thank you so much for doing this Rachel. I owe you big time. You'll do amazing." Quinn said. Walking over to the small baby in Rachel's arms, Quinn placed a small kiss on his forehead. "Goodbye, buddy. Aunt Rachie's gonna take great care of you. Mommy will be back as soon as possible. Okay, bye Rachel." she smiled, and hugged Rachel before she quickly walked out of the door, leaving Rachel and Jeremy alone in her apartment. Rachel could already feel Jeremy start to squirm and start crying.

Quinn told Rachel that she fed him last at around two thirty, so Rachel decided to see if he was hungry. Grabbing the diaper bag, Rachel placed it on the counter with Jeremy in one arm. After she was finished fixing the formula for him, she grabbed him giraffe stuffed animal and a blanket from the yellow bag, Rachel sat in her recliner, turned on the TV and started rocking him as she placed the bottle in his mouth, sighing with relief when the crying ended. She knew that this would be tough, but he was really cute so that helped. Laughing at him smiling up at her, she watched him gulp down the formula.

"You must've been really hungry, huh Buddy." she giggled as his big emerald eyes stared up at her. At around 10:13 pm, Jeremy finally fell asleep in Rachel's arms after a second bottle. Setting up his small play pin bed wasn't as easy as Rachel thought it would be. Rachel had to look over the directions at least twice before she knew exactly how to get it to open fully. Once she did. She placed one of her extra comforters in her closet over the floor of the play pin. Placing Jeremy on top of the comforter, she placed a small blanket over the sleeping child and walked out of her room, after shutting off the lights.

Once she was finished with her bath, Rachel put on her pajamas and quietly went into her bed, tiptoeing past where the baby was sleeping. At around 2:24 am, there was a loud crying that woke Rachel up. Picking up Jeremy from the pin, Rachel walked into the living room and tried to rock him back to sleep. When his crying didn't stop, Rachel fixed him a bottle to see if he was hungry. When he refused it, Rachel checked to see if his diaper was dirty, it was. Changing him, Rachel was a little disappointed when he continued to cry. Trying to rock him once more, Rachel didn't know what to do when he was still wide awake and screaming. Freaking out, Rachel was wondering whether or not she should call Quinn. It was almost three in the morning, Rachel didn't want to wake her up, but she also had no idea what to do. Finally giving up, Rachel dressed Jeremy in warm clothes, placed him in his car seat, put a blanket over his body to keep him from getting cold, grabbed his yellow bag and diaper bag, and made her way quickly downstairs to a taxi with the screaming child in the car seat in her hands.

Once she got into the taxi she told the man the location over the baby's loud cries.. About halfway to her stop, the taxi driver seemed to have been annoyed and made a snarky comment.

"Can you please get your kid to shut up, miss?"

"Can you please pay attention to the road and get me to where I wanna go?" she retorted which gained silence from the driver. Once the cab stopped, she grabbed everything from the cab, including the car seat with Jeremy in it, paid the ransom, and ran inside going up the elevator. Once she got to the door, she banged on it hard, waiting for an answer. There was none. Grabbing her key, she opened the door, and placed the bags on the floor, and placed the car seat on the counter and picked up Jeremy in her arms, beginning to rock him back and forth.

"Shhh, everything's gonna be okay, baby. Please stop crying. Please.." she whispered.. Rocking him in her arms.

Suddenly Rachel heard a pair of footsteps coming towards her in the dark and she knew exactly who it was..

"Rachel? What are you doing here? It's 3 am.. What's going on?" he asked, looking at Rachel rocking the crying baby in her arms.

"I need help.. I can't do this on my own. Quinn and Sam are out of town, I don't know what's up with Santana and Brittany, and i'm sure as hell not going to Puck.. You're the only person I know. Please, Finn help me.. He has been crying since 2:20 this morning and he won't stop. I changed his diaper, I tried to feed him.. He won't stop and I am so tired. Please, help me." Rachel begged.

"Okay.. Are those his things?" he asked, pointing to the bags on the floor.

"Yes. Why?" she replied.

"Maybe we can find something in those bags that could help him. Bring them over here." he instructed.

Carefully placing Jeremy into Finn's arms, she walked over to the bags and brought them towards Finn. Opening the zipper of the two bags, Rachel emptied the two bags on the counter.

"Is he too warm?" she asked.

"He doesn't feel like it. I mean, his temperature is normal." Finn replied.

"Too cold?" she asked another question.

"He's wrapped in this blanket. I don't think so." he replied again.

"Wait a minute. Does he have a pacifier with him?" he asked.

"Umm, yes. It's in this bag somewhere. I don't know why I didn't think of that before." she answered, digging through the bag. Finding it, she walked over to Finn holding the baby, and placed the small pacifier into Jeremy's mouth. Once he spit it out, he started to cry again.

"Crap! I'm out of ideas, Finn!" Rachel exclaimed, running her hand through her hair.

"Well, when I was younger my mom sang me lullabies, maybe Quinn sings to him and he wants someone to sing to him.

"Then what are you waiting for, sing." Rachel told him.

"I said Quinn, not Sam. He's probably used to a female's voice. Plus, you've always had a better voice than me. So, you sing." he replied.

"You know that's not true, Finn. You're amazingly talented. That's why you should sing." she answered back.

"Do you want the baby to stop crying? Or, are we going to sit here going back and forth about who should sing?" he asked.

"Fine. " she said, following him to the couch. As Finn sat down, Rachel kneeled on the side of him so she could see the baby's red face over Finn's muscular arm. Placing her hand on Finn's shoulder, she began to sing one of her show tunes she remembered singing from high school.

_oh my man I love him so_  
_he'll never know_  
_all my life is just despair_  
_but I don't care_

_when he takes me in his arms_  
_the world is bright_  
_alright_

_what's the difference if I say_  
_I'll go away_  
_when I know I'll come back_  
_on my knees someday_

_for whatever my man is_  
_I am his _  
_forever more_

_oh my man I love him so_  
_he'll never know_  
_all my life is just despair_  
_but I don't care_

_when he takes me in his arms_  
_the world is bright_  
_alright_

_what's the difference if I say_  
_I'll go away_  
_when I know I'll come back_  
_on my knees someday_

_for whatever my man is_  
_I am his _  
_forever more_

By the time Rachel finished singing, Jeremy surprisingly stopped crying and was now fast asleep in Finn's arms.

"You're a genius. You have to help me for the rest of the weekend." she whispered.

"I don't know, Rach. I'm not really good with these sort of things. Babysitting." he explained.

"Neither am I.. Why do you think I came here? Please, Finn. I will even pay you." she begged.

"Okay, no paying. I'll do it. But under one condition..." he started.

"Anything."

"You're the one changing all of the dirty diapers." he laughed.

"Deal." she laughed along.

By the end of the weekend, Rachel had moved all of Jeremy's stuff over to Finn's penthouse along with a small bag of her clothes. She slept on the couch, with Jeremy in Finn's room with him. She had to admit that she had a lot of fun babysitting with Finn. On Saturday, they decided to take Jeremy to a picnic in central park and spent the whole day, watching the clouds, petting random dogs, and making crazy faces at Jeremy, trying to make him laugh. For lunch, they fed Jeremy and went get hot dogs from the closest vender. Walking around, Rachel smiled at all of the trees and all of the people walking, running, and riding their bikes. She really wished she could come here more often. If only her job didn't require so many hours.

Early Sunday morning, Finn and Rachel dressed Jeremy in a large bundle of clothes after they decided to take him to Times Square. Once they got there they went inside of Toy 'R Us to look at all of the baby toys with Jeremy, then they went eat breakfast at the Hard Rock Café. After, they went to M&M's World and bought m&ms. Once they were finished looking at the different colored M&M's, they then stopped by Madam Tussaud's wax museum to look at all of the exhibits. Surprisingly, Jeremy hadn't cried the whole day. Once they left Times Square, it 5:30 and Finn and Rachel began to become a little sad knowing that Jeremy would be being picked up in a few hours, when Quinn and Sam's plane landed at 8:15.

During the time they waited, Rachel texted Quinn letting her know that everything went fine and to inform her that they were both at Finn's house. While waiting for Quinn and Sam to come over, Rachel sat on the couch with Jeremy fast asleep in her arms. She had already given him a bath, fed him, and changed his diaper for a final time. Sitting next to her, Finn smiled and looked at the TV screen as well.

"Today was fun." he whispered.

"Very." she agreed. "I wish we could have another day with him though." she admitted.

"I know. It went by too fast." he replied.

"Well, next time she needs a babysitter, I will definitely be recommending the two of us." she giggled.

"Definitely.." he smiled at her.

"And you said you weren't good with babies... I'll have to disagree with that one. You were like his favorite person this week." she smiled back at him.

"You think so?" he asked, looking down at Jeremy.

"Definitely. The only time he would let me hold him was if I had a bottle or I had his purple giraffe." she admitted.

"What can i say? It's a guy thing. Bonding time, I guess." he took the small hand in his large one. "This little dude will grow up to become a stud. Just like his uncle Finn."

"Whatever you say." she silently laughed.

"Just wait and see." he told her.

"I think he'll grow up to become a gentleman. Quinn's his mother, after all." she smiled at Finn.

"You're right about one thing." he said. "This little man has damn good parents."

"Hey, baby ears work better than you know." she corrected him.

"Relax, he doesn't know what we're saying." he smiled down at him.

"I hope Quinn and Sam take their time. But, knowing Quinn, she'll get to her baby as soon as possible. They're probably almost here." Rachel whispered to Finn.

"You're right." he replied.

Wiping away a tear, Rachel knew it was stupid to be crying right now, but she just really would miss this weekend. Spending time with Finn and the baby showed Rachel what she'd been missing in her life. A family.

"Hey, why are you crying?" Finn asked, his expression becoming sincere.

"I know it sounds stupid, but I just don't want this moment to end. I don't him to leave." she smiled, looking down at Jeremy. "It really shows me what I'll never have."

"What? A baby? Rachel, you'll have a family someday." he assured her.

"Maybe you're right. But, it'll never be a happy one, or normal. I'll always have to be at work, i'll never see my kids with the job I have.. That is if I even meet the right guy."

"So, what are you saying? You want to quit your job?" he asked.

"No. I just wish my future could travel in a different direction from where it's traveling now." she explained. "And maybe that means finding a new path in my career. I don't know. I'm just lost. I'm almost 27.. I have nothing going for me except for my job. It just seems like everyone around me is moving forward with their lives and i'm just standing still. I mean, Quinn and Sam, they're married and they have him, San and Britt have each other. Puck's trying to help his screwed up love life, even you have a life. Your business. You've built all this success around you, while still having the time to be around the people you care about. I have gotten success in my career, but I haven't seen Kurt or my parents in 9 years, because I can't just pack up and go. I sometimes can't even get weekends off. I love my job, I save lives and make people happy, and in the beginning it was everything, but now, I just feel like I've done all there was to do and now it's just a burden.. Keeping me living my personal life. I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm stuck." she explained.

"Rachel, if you're not happy with your life the way it is. Change it. You don't like your career anymore? Find a new one. Your life is like an online game. You decide what happens next. You don't like the direction your future is heading in? Make a freaking U-turn and find a new direction. And, your career isn't the only thing going for you.. You have a best friend sitting on the side of you who loves you very much and will support you no matter what. I mean that.." he smiled, as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Have I ever told you how awesome you are, Hudson?" she asked.

"You may have mentioned it once or twice.." he joked, causing her to giggle.

For the rest of the time, they stayed on the couch waiting for Quinn and Sam to show their faces. In the mean time, it's not like it was even possible, but, Rachel's heart longed for Finn even more than it already had. This weekend really was amazing. If only he knew how she felt about him..

Finn's mind was spinning like a tornado. Finn smiled to himself.. If only she knew how he felt about her...

* * *

**So, here's my newest installment. I really hoped you all enjoyed this story and I will try to write more tomorrow. This chapter is my personal favorite. Finn and Rachel would make awesome parents. You may be able to see that in future chapters, maybe not. Stay tuned to find out.. ;) Reviews are appreciated and recommended.. 3**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

These days, time had definitely been going by too fast for Rachel. She felt that just yesterday she was having to wear tank tops out on her days off from the massive heat the swept New York this summer. Now, as she stood in her apartment, early Tuesday morning, she cuddled up to a large blanket and watched the leaves in central park fall to the ground.

She was given the entire week off from the hospital and she couldn't be any happier for that. She would have to remember to thank one of her good friends and coworker, Jessica, who happily agreed to take over for her. She would have to return early Monday morning and would probably have to do a little over time but it was definitely worth it.

This week was Thanksgiving, and she was happy because her parents, after almost 5 years of begging, had finally decided to hop on a plane and make their way over to New York. This would be the first time she would see them in almost 8 years and saying that she was excited was an understatement.

Another thing that Rachel was excited about was that her birthday fell on Thanksgiving and she was really happy that she could spend it with all of her friends and family. Even Kurt, whom she had not seen in the same amount of time as her own parents, was flying here with his now, husband, Blaine and their 5 year old daughter, Alexandria, whom they adopted just last year, as Finn informed her.

She was glad to know that Kurt would be coming since she had really missed him and his craziness. She just didn't know he would act towards her. She had to miss his wedding last year because the person who was supposed to cover for her at the hospital came down with a terrible stomach flu. Never mind that, this week would be fun, she would see everyone and it would be the best Thanksgiving and Birthday ever.

Being interrupted from her thoughts, Rachel found Santana, Brittany, and Quinn standing in her living room with cheerful looks on their faces. Gosh, it was 6:30 in the morning. Good thing she was up. Knowing Santana she would have gotten an abrupt awakening. Walking towards them, she took her blanket off and threw it on the couch.

"Guys, it's 6:30 in the morning. What are you doing here?" she asked, gripping her hips with her hands.

"We have a huge day ahead of us and you're definitely coming with us. Now get your skinny ass dressed. Dress heavy, it's freezing out there." Santana replied.

"Where are y'all going?" she asked.

"We, are going shopping. Black Friday is Friday, of course and I want to get my shopping done earlier this year. You know how it is in New York on Black Friday. You guys are gonna help me and you can even shop for yourselves, I really don't care. I just thought it would be a great day for us girls to hang and catch up with the gossip, you know?" Santana explained.

"Okay. Well, give me like a few minutes." she said.

"Whatever. We just have to be outta here by 7:15. I want to get started early so we can have time to get to as many shops as we can." Santana answered plopping down on the couch and turning on the TV.

By the time Rachel was finished getting ready, she took one last glance in the mirror. Instantly, she approved her look. She was wearing a long sleeved Royal blue shirt, dark blue jeans, a large white coat with brown fur in the hood, and brown ugg boots with fur, in which the bottom of her jeans were tucked into. Rachel decided to leave her hair down, so, she straightened it, and placed a brown beanie over the top of her head.

Her make up was the last thing that she needed to put on. She decided to keep it simple since she really wasn't going anywhere special. She applied a light coat of base and powder. After, she drew a small line on both of her water lines, top and bottom, with a dark black eye pencil. Once she put on three coats of mascara, Rachel was finished.

Leaving the bathroom, Rachel greeted her three friends once again. Santana seemed to like what she was wearing, proving that her outfit was more than likely a success. After grabbing her purse, Rachel followed the rest of the girls downstairs and to the sidewalk to wait for a taxi.

After about two hours of going to different shops, Rachel's feet were starting to hurt really bad. She could also see that Quinn was in the same condition as she was. They walked far behind Santana and Brittany, who were basically power walking the whole time with millions of bags in their hands. Rachel felt a little relieved to know that Quinn was in the same condition as her but she kind of felt bad to know that Quinn had an excuse. She had a baby less than 4 months ago. Rachel on the other hand had not had a baby in her whole entire life time and was still going as slow as she possibly could. Maybe it was the sharp pain of freezing air hitting her face or the fact that she hated walking in and out of shops. Hell, she hated shopping itself. It was too much commotion and she sometimes found it really boring. But Santana wanted to spend the day with all of them, so she would suck it up and spend the rest of the day with the girls. She just really thanked God that her best friend was a guy. Finn hated shopping just as much as she did. Except, Finn hated it to the point where he avoided it until he absolutely had to go.

Walking into Victoria's Secret, Quinn and Rachel made a 'oh my gosh' look at each other, as Santana and Brittany ran straight to the lingerie. Rachel was fine with them looking at the items for themselves, but as soon as Santana started suggesting things for her to try on, she would be out the door in a second.

Quinn and her laughed to themselves as they awkwardly stood there watching Santana and Brittany go through all of the lingerie, Bras, and underwear. Walking away from them, Quinn and Rachel went on their own to smell the different displays of perfume.

"I totally thought you would be looking with them. You know Sam would love that." Rachel laughed.

"Ha-ha, real funny. What about you? Finn would be in your arms in a heart beat. Especially with that black lacy thing I saw back there." Quinn laughed back.

"About that.." Rachel lightly smiled in Quinn's direction.

"What?" Quinn asked with a curious expression on her face.

"I think i'm just gonna let it all go. You know, the whole 'being in love with Finn' thing." Rachel told her.

"What? How can you let it all go? You guys are like undiscovered soul mates!" Quinn exclaimed.

"You seriously have no idea how many times I've asked myself that question. Like, too many times to count. I'm just so tired of just waiting around for him to come and sweep me off my feet like a freaking fairytale. Part of me had hoped for that for so long, but another part of me just knows that that is just a fantasy and will probably never happen. I mean there will always be a part of me that will love him, don't get me wrong. I just want to be happy and I know that if I spend my whole entire life waiting for someone who doesn't even feel that way for me, I won't be happy." She explained.

"What does that mean?" Quinn asked.

"It means that, I think I want to start dating again." Rachel smiled.

"Dating?" Quinn asked, with a brow raised.

"Yes, it'll be fun. And, to make things better, I even came up with like the best plan ever." Rachel smiled brightly.

"What plan?"

"I'm going to find someone for Finn and then we'll be able to go on the best double dates. I'll be happy and he'll be happy. Everyone will be happy and that's all that I want. Just, as long as he doesn't bring that blonde slut that I hate." She told Quinn.

"It sounds like a good plan! I'm so excited. We can all have the best triple dates!" Quinn smiled.

"Yes!" she exclaimed.

"I just want to make sure that you're okay with all of this. I mean, I know it's really hard to move on from something like this. I'd like to believe that true love only comes around once. What if Finn was 'the one'?" Quinn asked.

"I know.. But, I can never know that for sure until I try. You're right, Finn could be my soul mate... Or, my soul mate could be somewhere out there and Finn and I are destined to be nothing more than best friends..."

"You're right.. Have you told Santana?" Quinn asked as they both turned to look at the Latino, who was laughing with Brittany.

"And ruin Rachel's Angels? No thanks... Actually you're the only person I've told. Can we just keep it between the two of us?" Rachel asked.

"I can try, but Rach, you know that i'm terrible at keeping secrets. Hence the whole Finn, Puck, and Beth fiasco in high school." Quinn chuckled.

"Okay, i'm pretty sure that this isn't as serious as that was and you did keep it until I told Finn the truth about you." Rachel laughed.

"I know but still..." Quinn replied.

"Oh relax, it's just one small thing." Rachel smiled.

"I guess you're right.." Quinn smiled back.

"Thanks for listening to me and giving me your honest opinion." Rachel told her, as they pulled each other into a hug. "You're welcome." Quinn replied.

"What's with the cheesy hugging?"

Both girls released from each other and turned to find Santana and Brittany standing by them with curious looks on their faces. Knowing she couldn't tell Santana about everything they had just shared with each other, Quinn created a new subject.

"That was quick."

"Well, I know my size in pretty much everything in this shop.." Santana began as she dug through her bags pulling out a red piece of clothing. "I definitely think this is my color. I'm gonna look so hot!" she exclaimed.

"Definitely, babe." Brittany smiled.

"Well, okay. How about we move on to a different shop?" Rachel interrupted feeling awkward. She knew that Quinn was also feeling the exact same way as her.

"Yes, please." Quinn added.

Once they were out of several shops that the visited, they all decided that it was time to find a place to eat for lunch. As they were walking, Rachel noticed that Santana was holding Brittany's hand as they walked swiftly up the pathway. Seeing them, Rachel turned to Quinn and whispered.

"See, I want a love like that."

"Doesn't everyone?" Quinn replied.

They all decided on the first café they saw since the food looked good and they really didn't feel like walking anymore down the road to find a another one. Once they were all settled with their food and drinks, Santana was the one to break the silence that was lingering above the table.

"So, Quinny, where'd you drop of baby Ken and Barbie?"

"Jeremy, is spending the day with his daddy." she smiled, sipping on her water.

"Father and son day. Sounds like fun. Might even do trouty mouth some good." Santana laughed.\

"Yeah.." Quinn replied.

"What about you, Berry? Where's Frankenteen on this lovely day?" Santana asked.

"He's actually really busy getting ready for Thursday. I thought it would be best to give him his space since he's like really stressed about getting everything perfect. He's going crazy." She laughed.

"Well, he better have good booze this year, because a Hudson/ Hummel Thanksgiving is not something that I can do sober." Santana told her, taking a bite out of her food.

"Me too." Quinn added.

"Come on, guys. It'll be fun." Rachel laughed.

"You weren't there last year, were you?" Santana asked.

Now thinking about it, last year for Thanksgiving, Rachel decided that she wanted to work during the holiday since she really didn't feel like getting together at Finn's house. So, she got off early, bought a tub of chocolate ice cream, and stayed home watching reruns of The Vampire Diaries on Netflix.

"Rachel, last year was terrible. Britt and I had to sneak up to the roof of the building to get some peace and quiet. Especially with that "concert"." Santana explained.

"What concert?" Rachel chuckled.

"Blaine and Kurt decided that it would be fun to put on a little concert for us. It was nothing but Broadway songs. It was miserable. I love Blaine and Kurt to death, but, I felt like I wanted to shoot myself in the face. Even Burt and Carol were looking like they had enough. It was absolutely terrible." she explained.

Quinn and Brittany seemed to have started shaking their heads in agreement with Santana.

"I just miss the old days." Santana continued.

"What do you mean by 'the old days'?" Rachel asked.

"You know. When we would all go to Finn's house. There was just us four, Finn, Sam, and Puck hanging out as a small family. The boys watching football, the girls gossiping in the kitchen while we cooked the food. Then, after everything had been eaten we would play drinking games and get drunk off of our asses. I remember the first year we got here, Rachel and I had to crash on the couch because we couldn't even walk on our own. We were so wasted. Those were the good days. I miss that. Now that Finn started inviting his parents and Blaine and Kurt, I just feel like I have to watch what I do or say, or else I'll be given the looks of disapproval. It's not as fun as it used to be." she explained.

"I think we all miss those days.. But, i'm very excited. I haven't seen Kurt in like 8 years. Do you know how long that is? We have like a ton of stuff to catch up on. Also, Finn told me that Carol wants my help making her Coconut cream pie, which is like a secret recipe, so that's going to be like awesome. And also, i'm pretty sure that Burt has new jokes from the last ones. Let's face it, they're going to be hilarious. Oh yeah, and Finn is hiring a personal chef to cook the food this year, so, we won't have burnt food like we did two years ago. It's only going to be not fun if you make it that way. It's going to be a good day! It's my birthday and I finally get to spend it with my parents!" Rachel exclaimed.

"No offense, Rachel, but, you sound like a peppy housewife from the 50's." Brittany told her, causing them all to laugh.

"I'm excited. Sue me." she laughed.

"When are your parents coming in?" Quinn asked.

"I have to go pick them up from the airport tomorrow at 2:15. I'm so excited!" She laughed.

"How long are they staying for?" Santana asked.

"They have to leave early Thursday afternoon." Rachel hesitantly answered.

"Wait... They're leaving on your birthday? Rachel, that's hardly fair for you. Why are they leaving so early?" Santana asked.

"They have a meeting the next day." Rachel answered.

"And they couldn't cancel it to spend the day with their daughter on her birthday?" Santana asked.

"Look guys, I know that you guys are concerned about me and I really appreciate it, but you have nothing to worry about. They're taking time out of their busy schedule to spend the day with me and i'm really thankful for it." She told them.

"We just don't want you to get your hopes up, Rachel. I remember high school okay? I'm pretty sure we all do at this table. All of those times that you cried. They didn't even go to your graduation. I don't wanna see you hurt like you were." Quinn explained.

"I'm not gonna lie, it will hurt when they leave, but I haven't seen them in 8 years. I'd rather have two days than none." She explained.

"You haven't seen them in 8 years, not because of you, but because they never came to visit or asked you to visit. Didn't you beg them to come over?" Santana added.

"They've changed guys.. It's going to be a fun day, okay?" Trying to change the subject, Rachel spoke again. "I think we should get going. There might be a few good shops down the street." she smiled, standing up as the bill had already been paid.

Once they were finished with all of the shopping that needed to be completed, they were all in a state of exhaustion. Getting into the cab, with Santana and Quinn sitting next to her, Rachel rested her head against the window with tears forming in her eyes, as her head repeated everything that the girls told her. She couldn't believe anything they said, no matter how much she wanted to. Her parents weren't the people who they used to be. They loved her and did everything for her. Even though she was hurt in high school from their abandonment, she understood that they were just making a living so she could have a good childhood. Quinn, Santana, and Brittany made it sound like they didn't even love her. That wasn't true at all. Falling into her thoughts, she drifted into a deep sleep.

The next thing she knew, Santana was shaking her violently as she was awaken from her much needed sleep. "Wake up, sleeping beauty."

Getting out of the cab, Rachel was a bit confused. This wasn't her or Santana and Brittany's apartment complex. Neither was it Quinn's. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around with a bit of confusion. Maybe she did know where they were. It was dark outside and her exhaustion did play with her vision.

"What are we doing here Santana? I want to go home. I'm tired." Rachel asked as they walked into the lobby and she recognized where they were.

"Oh, relax. We won't be here that long. It was the closest place I knew and I couldn't be in that cab anymore, the driver kept looking me up and down and it was awkward. I'm pretty sure he was taking looks at you too while you were asleep. Plus, if you're too tired, you can probably crash on the couch. Or, knowing Hudson, he'll probably tell you to crash in his bed. It'll be your bed too soon enough." she smirked, causing Rachel to roll her eyes.

"Whatever." she replied as they got onto the right floor from the elevator.

Once Santana found out that the front door was unlocked, she walked right through it like she owned the place. Walking through the house, it seemed empty.

"Is he even here?" Quinn asked, looking around the room.

"Oh, he's here. The smell of that cologne that I hate hit me the moment we walked through the door." Rachel replied as they walked further into the house.

"Hudson, you in here?" Santana called out.

"Santana!" Rachel whispered, hitting Santana's arm.

"In the kitchen." the familiar voice called out.

Rachel smiled when she walked into the next room to find Finn cutting up something with a bottle of beer on the side of the cutting board. Getting his eye, she smiled and walked over to hug him. Wrapping her arms around him, she felt like she could fall asleep right there. Quickly pulling away, she went to the fridge and grabbed a coke to keep her awake. Plopping herself down on the stool on the opposite side of him, she opened her drink and watched him cut up the vegetables he was cutting. As Santana and Quinn sat on the sides of her, leaving Brittany to stand beside them.

"What are you guys doing here?" Finn asked with a smile as he looked at them.

"Well, Rachel just had to see you, so we decided, why not?" Santana chuckled as she winked in Rachel's way.

Rolling her eyes, she rested her head on the counter.

"Is that so?" Finn smirked, laughing as Rachel huffed loudly against the counter.

"Real funny, Santana." Rachel sighed.

"Actually, you're our Safe Haven for the moment. The cab driver was a bit of a pervert and i'm pretty sure if I didn't tell him to pull over soon enough he would've taken us to a dark alley. Plus, he kept taking looks to the back seat where Rachel was sleeping. We had to get out and you were the closest place I could think of." Santana explained.

"Oh wow." Finn's eyes turned to Rachel, who still had her head rested against the counter as she looked at her can of coke. "And what about you? What were you doing sleeping in a cab?" he asked.

"I had a long day, okay?" she looked up at him. "What are you doing chopping vegetables at 8:24 at night?" she asked, with a laugh.

"I just got back from work and I need something to eat for supper." he replied.

"Whatever." She said.

"What's up with you, Oscar the grouch?"

"She's been like that ever since we left the café earlier today." Santana whispered.

"I can hear you, you know. I'm just really tired." Rachel answered.

"Go lay down in my bed." Finn offered.

Sitting up, Santana was behind Finn making sexual motions and winking faces.

Rolling her eyes at Santana, Rachel got up and started walking towards Finn's room. "Just this once. Goodnight guys." she smiled, waving as she continued to where she was going. Once she got into his room, she was really surprised with how tidy it was. The housemaid must've came early this week. Before she could get to his bed, her phone started going off. Pulling it out of her pocket, she smiled when she saw who it was.

"Hey, daddy." she answered.

"Hey, princess." Hiram Berry answered the phone.

"What's up? Are you calling to ask about the plans for tomorrow. Because, if so, I really think that you guys should see the city. Oh, we could go to Times Square, and the Statue of Liberty, and we could even go see a Broadway-" she was cut off.

"Actually, i'm calling about that. I'm very sorry but your father and I aren't going to be able to make it to New York tomorrow. There was a meeting scheduled at the last moment."

"What? But you promised!" Rachel felt the tears building up. "Why can't you just cancel and reschedule to another day?"

"It doesn't work like that baby. You're father and I are truly sorry, sweetheart."

"No, you don't have to apologize for anything. I understand. But, you will be here on Thursday, right?" she asked, with worry in her voice.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world princess. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." she replied before he hung up.

Great, she thought.. Just another thing to make this the worst day of my life. Maybe the girls were right earlier..

Grabbing her jacket in which she placed on Finn's bed before the phone call, she put it on and exited the room. All she wanted now was to be alone.

Passing by the kitchen, she seemed to have caught the eye of the girls and Finn. Knowing that she couldn't avoid them now, she slowly walked into the kitchen. Tears were rising in her eyes but she would not, under any circumstances, let them see her cry.

Walking up to them, she rubbed her eyes a little, doing her best not to smear her makeup and began to speak.

"It's getting late. I think I'm gonna head out." She smiled slightly.

"Rach, you can crash in my room. I'll take the couch. Plus, I don't feel comfortable with you being out this late especially with what Santana just told me about that cab driver." Finn explained.

"I know. I just really want to go home and clean up a bit before my parents get here tomorrow. You know how daddy is with big messes. I'll see you Thursday, okay?" She smiled, giving him a hug and feeling guilty about lying to him.

"Okay. Can I at least walk you downstairs?" he asked, rubbing his forehead.

"That would be nice." She smiled, then turned to the three girls who had smirks on their faces.

"That's so thoughtful of you, Finn." Santana smiled, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Very." Quinn added trying not to laugh.

"Bye guys. See you thursday." Rachel said, rolling her eyes.

Once they got into the elevator, Rachel and Finn quietly stood there. The silence in the small space was killing Rachel, but she knew that it was better than letting Finn see what was really going on with her. So, she held it in. She told herself that she would wait until she was in her own home where no one could see her ugly cries. Where no one could ask her what was wrong or worry about her.

Once they stepped out of the elevator and out of the lobby, Rachel finally broke the silence As Finn started waving for a taxi.

"Thanks. You know, for everything." She said.

He turned to her and smiled that crooked smile that made her melt every single time.

"Anything for the best friend."

Once a cab pulled up, Rachel got in and looked up at Finn.

Waving, he smiled as the cab pulled away and onto the street. Smiling back at him, she watched as his figure became smaller and smaller as she got further and further. No Rachel, she thought to herself, you've got to move on. She knew it was the most stupidest idea she ever came up with, but it simply had to be done. She knew it wasn't going to be easy but she needed to do it. She owed to Finn and herself.

Closing her eyes, she finally let go. The tears fell like rain as she held herself in her arms. She knew that the cab driver was looking at her with concern, but she didn't care. All she could think about was how everything could just fall apart and that there was nothing she could do about it.

She knew that her parents were very busy men and they did all they could for her, but she just never really saw it. Everything that Santana and Quinn had told her, she didn't want to believe it at first. But, With what she had experienced tonight, she just didn't know anymore. The way he straight out told her on the phone that they weren't going to make it. She didn't even hear any grief in his voice. What if they took the meeting to get out of coming to New York a day early? Stop it, Rachel, she thought to herself. She couldn't think of anything Like that. Her parents loved her with all of their hearts and she couldn't second guess that.

The next day went by very slowly for Rachel. She had the day all planned before her daddy threw the bomb on her that they weren't going to be coming. Now, all she did was lay around all day and watch different movies on Netflix while shedding a tear of two.

She didn't get much sleep that night. All she did was toss and turn, and every now and then, she'd glance at the clock. It was now 11:55, and she was beginning to drift off into a slumber. Just as she was finally asleep, she was abruptly awoken by a loud ringing in her room. Switching on her lamp on her nightstand, she grabbed her phone and sighed once she saw the caller id.

"Finn, it is 12:00 am, why are you calling me so late?" She asked.

"I just wanted to wish the most amazing friend that anyone could ever ask for, a very happy birthday!" He exclaimed.

"And you couldn't have waited till like 7 or 8 to say that?" She laughed.

"Hell no, Berry. I wanted to be the first person to say it." he replied.

"Well, if that's the case, thank you, Finn. That's very sweet of you." She smiled.

"Is it going great so far?" He asked.

"Well seeing as though it's 12:00 am and i'm having a conversation with you instead of my glorious, well needed sleep, how do you think it's going?" She chuckled, rubbing her exhausted eyes.

"Right. Not good." He replied.

"Look, thank you very much for the early birthday wish. It was very sweet. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Love you." She said, before she could think about it.

"Wha-" he was cut off.

"Gotta go." She said, before she hung up.

What the hell was she thinking? She wasn't, that was for sure. Great, things were going to be totally awkward tomorrow. This is going to be the best birthday ever, yeah right. Scoffing, she threw her phone on her nightstand, turned off her lamp, and cursed herself as she stared up at the ceiling fan. After counting the rotations a little longer, then she finally got the sleep she'd been needing.

Once her eyes open, she knew it was morning by the light shining in through her curtains. Reaching for her alarm clock, she sighed as it was already 8 in the morning. She had promised Finn that she would be there before 10:30.

Getting up from her bed, she walked to her kitchen and fixed a pot of coffee to start the morning off.

Going into her bathroom, she decided that she would shower before getting ready. As the warm water hit her face, she realized that she was 27 years old today. Gosh, where did her youth go, she wondered. Just yesterday, she was 18 years old with the world in her hands, ready to make the best of herself. Today, she already accomplished her goals and was still unsatisfied.

Once she got out of the shower, she wrapped herself in her bathrobe and fixed a cup of coffee before heading back to the bathroom. After blow drying and curling her hair, Rachel went to her closet and looked through her choices. After about a few moments of looking, Rachel decided on. Her new royal blue lace dress that stopped a few inches above her knees and had a low cut in the back to show off her tan back. To match her dress, she chose her pair of tan pumps to go along with it.

After everything, she applied her makeup which wasn't really that heavy. It consisted of a black smokey eye, thick layers of eyeliner, and a few different coats of mascara.

After spraying her perfume and putting on her royal blue cameo necklace, she rushed to get her purse and headed out the door.

Once she arrived to Finn's building, she stood outside for a few minutes, burying her hands in her button up black coat. Sitting on the bench, she took a deep breath and let it out. She was nervous to go upstairs, especially with what happened last night. She didn't know how Finn would be around her. Would it be awkward, would it be the same? She'd never know until she goes upstairs. Standing up, she finally decided that now was the time.

Standing in front of his door, Rachel's heart started pounding as she listened into it. She could here everyone she had been longing to see. She could here Blaine's voice, Kurt's laughter that she had missed so much, Carol's sweet voice, Burt's laughter, she even heard Quinn and Sam. All she had to so now was walk in and join her family.

Opening the door slowly, she tried to be as quiet as she could, but her heels against the wooden floor really didn't do her any good.

"Someone else is here." She heard Carol say, as her voice came closer.

Holding her breath, she walked further into the house until she came face to face with Carol, otherwise known as her only real mom that she ever had, seeing as though her biological mom was a deadbeat.

"Oh my gosh, it's my little Rachel!" She exclaimed clasping her hands together. "You've grown up so much. Get over here, sweetheart." She exclaimed as Carol pulled Rachel into a tight hug.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you, Carol. How's Lima?" She asked as they started walking towards everyone else.

"Oh you haven't missed much. I promise you that." She said. "Now let's get some meat on them skinny bones." She smiled As they approached the others. Everyone was there, Finn, Quinn, Burt, Blaine, Kurt, Alexandria, Santana, Brittany, everyone except the people she wanted to see most, her parents.

"Rachel." Blaine smiled as he got up to hug her.

"It's nice to see you" she smiled up at him as she walked towards Burt and gave him a hug as well.

"It's nice to see all of you." She smiled at everyone, including Kurt.

Looking towards Finn he looked nervous. Maybe I was right, today would be a bad birthday.

"Where have you been birthday girl?" Quinn asked walking up to her with a glass of wine in her hand.

"I woke up a little late this morning." She chuckled nervously as everyone was looking at her.

"Well, now that you're here can we eat? I'm starving." Santana said, walking into the room.

They all begin to gather around the table, Rachel sitting in between Puck and Finn, before Carol demands to say grace before. Grabbing Puck and Finn's hand, Rachel's heart begins to pound even faster as she tries to concentrate on the prayer.

After the prayer, they all begin to pick up their forks and pass food around, before Finn interrupts.

"Before we eat, shouldn't we wait for-" he's cut off by another voice walking into the dining room.

"Sorry to take so long. I was having a bit of a makeup malfunction."

It's a blonde girl who walks in. Her hair is in loose curls hanging down her back, her dress is black, tightly fitted to sculpture her curves and like Rachel, she's also wearing pumps, except hers are black. For some reason Rachel recognizes her. Why is that? When the girl shoots Rachel a nasty glare, it all comes back to her. It's Mandy.

As the girl sits on the chair across from Finn, Rachel focuses on her food to block out the side view of Mandy's eyes burning a hole through her face.

"Rachel, do you know when your parents are going to be here?" Carol asked, breaking the silence.

Smiling, she replies, "They should be here any minute now. I told them to come straight here. They just had to see that Statue of Liberty." She smiled, as she took a sip from her glass of wine.

Finn smiles down at me and nudges me in the arm, looking up at him I smile, and then he whispers something in my ear. "This is awkward. I wish someone would say something already."

"Tell me about it." I whisper back, laughing to myself.

"So, Rachel. I don't think we've met before. Tell me about yourself." Mandy breaks the silence yet again, after seeing the two of them whispering into each other's ears.

"Well, I'm a pediatric surgeon and that's pretty much all there is to know about me. I don't really get out much." she smiled at her, trying to ignore the flares being thrown by Mandy.

"Oh, come on. There has to be more to you than that."

"Well, I like pizza." She smiled, causing everyone to laugh, except Kurt.

"She's also obsessed with her job. So, if you're planning to become friends with her in the future, don't. It's a waste of friendship. She won't talk to you for years, she won't even come to your freaking wedding. That's who Rachel Berry is. A cold hearted bitch who doesn't have time for friends that aren't good enough for New York City." Kurt spat out, glaring at Rachel.

"Kurt!" Carol glared at him, as well as Burt.

Rachel's smile fell as looked at Kurt with hurt eyes. She knew they were pretty distant in the past few years, but she never thought he could ever say things like that. He was her best friend, or at least she thought he was. She wanted to catch up with him today, spend the day talking to him about how much their lives had changed and revive their friendship. But, now, all she wanted to do was get away from him, from everyone. She felt the tears boiling in her eyes, the pain in her chest from holding in the tears.

"I'm sorry, can I please be excused for a moment?" Rachel asked, and Carol nodded with sympathy on her face.

"Rachel.." Finn called, but she wouldn't stop for him. She wouldn't stop for no one.

Right before she could head out of the front door to the house, she heard the doorbell ring. Opening it, Rachel's heart fell when she saw who it was. It was Hiram and Leroy Berry. They weren't alone though.. On the side of them, was a woman. She was moderate in height, being a little taller than Rachel. She had long brown hair and big brown eyes, just like her, and her face was flawless, no hint of aging. Right then, Rachel knew exactly who this woman was.

"Mom?"

* * *

**Here is Chapter 6! I'm terribly sorry to keep all of you waiting for so long. I guess I had a bit of a writer's block. I've been so busy lately. Just starting school, shopping, doctor's appointments, I just never had the time to sit down and write anything. I promise you guys that there will be another chapter soon! I'm officially back! So, I really hope you guys enjoy this one, despite the incredibly long wait! This chapter has gotten me so frustrated, I almost gave up. Every time i would write it, I would forget to save it, so I had this chapter written out 3 times, but they all got deleted by my stupid iPad. So, enjoy this chapter because it's the one that actually survived without being completely erased. Note to self: always save everything you type down. Enjoy guys! Please review and tell me what you think and ideas are always appreciated! Okay, bye! ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Mom?"

"Oh my gosh, she remembers me." The older woman told Hiram and Leroy as they all looked down at her.

"Of course I remember you. It's kind of hard to forget the woman who didn't think that I was good enough to keep." Rachel spat as she glared at the woman. She wasn't surprised with the hurt expression on her face. She didn't care, she deserved it.

"Rachel!" Her daddy scolded.

"Apologize to Shelby this instant!" Her father yelled.

"The only people that should be apologizing are the two of you. This is the first time in 8 years that I ever ask either of you to come up to New York, and you know, since I'm your only daughter and I haven't seen you guys in so long, that you two would accept the offer without hesitation. But you didn't! I was really looking forward to you guys coming, and then you turned me down like you always do. For what? Your stupid jobs.. I understood that you guys missed graduation because we were struggling with the bills and stuff, but I'm a damn surgeon. I can support myself.. What's your excuse now? I know, the two of you are obsessed with your jobs.. You guys should've just let me get put in foster care.. I'm sure It would've been a hell of a lot better than being ignored by my parents for most of my childhood!" She yelled as she walked pass them and ran to the elevator.

The tears had finally made their escape after holding them in for what seemed like days. Rachel couldn't believe she ever even said that she was excited for this day. Why couldn't she just have a normal birthday with the family she loved? Oh right, because her parents probably never loved her in the first place. All she ever wanted to do was impress them. She brought home the grades, got the role of valedictorian at high school graduation, got offers from many colleges, including two Ivy League, Yale and Princeton, went to medical school. Everyday she woke up and went to her job, she felt a sense of pride, knowing that she was making her parents proud. But they were never there for her. No matter how much she hurt inside, she thought that they were doing the best they could for her. She ignored the hour long sympathetic lectures from Finn, about how she deserved better than to be treated that way. She ignored the dirty looks from Santana or Quinn, and even Sam when she would get overly excited about a card that they would send in the mail at Christmas time. She ignored all of it because she knew they weren't like that. Or at least she thought she did. That was until tonight, when she finally realized that they were to busy for their own little girl.

Sniffling the tears back, Rachel wiped under her eyes to make sure her make up wouldn't smear. She had pressed the elevator button at least 10 times already and she was becoming a little impatient. It was still on the 2nd floor. Sighing, she walked to the large door to the right of it, which said stairs on it. Running up as far as she could go, she sobbed as loud as she could, not caring of the pain on her knees a few trips and missing of steps caused her. All she wanted was to be away from every single person on this planet.

Once she couldn't go up any further, she sniffed some more before she opened the door to the roof, and walked out. She was taken aback by how could the air was, but it was November in New York, so she couldn't really be surprised by it. Walking to the edge, she placed her hands on the concrete wall protecting her from falling off the side, like a balcony. As the tears made their way down her face, she gazed out at the wide span of skyscrapers and buildings that rose above her in the farther distance. She could even see the Empire State Building.

This was the perfect escape for her. New York City. The city had always been her refuge, even when she was back in Lima. Every time she would get a bad thought or have a bad day, the thought of the big city and bright lights always cheered up. There was no place on this earth that she would rather be than right here. This was her home.

Today was supposed to be the one day out of the entire year where she could just let all of the stress from every other day float away and have fun with her friends and family. Why did everything have to be so complicated? She was already 27 years old and she was still longing for the days when she had never heard of the word checkbook or insurance. she missed the days where life was all about drawing the most perfect flower on your notebook during free time in class or at recess and trying not to step on the cracks on the sidewalk or else your back would crack. The simple days of her first grade year where she first met the tall handsome goof that she now called her best friend and the love of her life, even if he didn't know it.

After all of this time, it was nice to know that she could still remember the day they met. She remembered every single little thing, detail to detail.

When they met Finn was a 3rd grader who was at the top of his class. He was like the Danny Zuko of middle school, or so she would hear when she walked into the big girl's bathroom and all of the 2nd and 3rd grade girls would be talking about what he was wearing that day or how his hair would look on that specific day. Rachel had never really seen Finn before they met, neither did she really care about who he was. All she was focused on at the moment was organizing an imaginary cheerleading team with some of her fellow students. During reading time, she would take out her tiny folded up paper and write down who would go where in the organized order.

Even now she laughed at how crazy it sounded. A 6 year old telling other 6 year olds where to go. Even at the young age of 6, Rachel adapted her bossy and ambitious attitude and she didn't care what anyone else thought of it. She was the captain of the team and she didn't care when Santana Lopez would roll her eyes or when Brittany S. Pierce would scoff when they'd learn a new dance.

One day, it started thundering and lightening the class right before recess and it ended up being held in the tiny gym that the school had. Once they were finished using the restrooms, the group of girls, which consisted of Santana Lopez, Brittany S. Pierce, Quinn Fabray, Tina Cohen-Chang, and Mercedes Jones, were the first ones in the gym besides-another few other students sitting on the bleachers. Getting permission from the teacher on look-out duty, Rachel and the girls made their way to the middle of the court to practice their cheers and dances as they had been doing every recess.

Once they were situated in their normal positions, Rachel began reciting the words to one of the many cheers she knew by heart. The other ones she would have to get another look at from the cheerleaders.

About halfway through the movements, Santana and Quinn abruptly stopped and started screaming looking to their left. By the time Rachel's eyes could process what was going on, she was surrounded by a gust of wind and a bunch of guys running past her. All she could do was hold her head in her hands and close her eyes.

After a few minutes of standing there with the other girls, Rachel started to get the gist of what was going on around them. A group of boys were playing a basketball game around them.

Becoming frustrated, Rachel walked over to a slightly tall, for his age, boy with brown hair and dark amber eyes and grabbed the ball right out of his hands as he was slowly dribbling it across the court.

"Hey, give me back the ball!" He exclaimed as all of the other boys started to get behind Finn.

"We were here first!" She replied, as the other five girls got behind her and nodded their heads in agreement.

"Basketball courts are not meant for stupid cheerleaders. They're meant for actual basketball players. Now give me back the ball, or else..." He crossed his arms.

"Or else what?" She arched an eyebrow.

"Or else I'll make you give it to me." He said, with a bit of a smirk when he saw the terror on the other girls faces. For some reason, she wasn't afraid of him at all.

"What? You're gonna beat me up?" She asked, while crossing her own arms.

"Maybe.." He threatened.

"Mrs. Robins says that boys aren't allowed to hit girls.. So you're not!" Quinn answered.

"Fine. Then let's go get another one." He began.

"You can have your stupid ball back." Rachel said holding it up. "Basketball is stupid anyways. But first, you have to go get it." She said, throwing it as far as she could across the gym.

Watching all of the boys go to retrieve the ball, Rachel turned to the girls and looked at the small Hello Kitty watch on her wrist. She hadn't really learned the time yet in class, but she liked to pretend that she did.

"Let's go on the stage, girls. We have ten minutes left of recess." She said, looking at her watch, pretending to know what all the numbers meant to make her look smart.

After that day, Rachel developed a small loathing for Finn Hudson. Not only because he stole her cheering spot that rainy day at recess, but because he made it a daily thing to make fun of her princess lunch box. She was glad that they weren't in the same grade, because if she had to see him all day, she didn't know what she would do with herself.

One day, Rachel was walking to the bus stop from school when she felt someone's hands against her back as she jerked forward and fell on the hard cement. Looking up at the person who was behind her, it was Thomas Owens, a boy in the 2nd grade. Once she felt the pain coming from the scrape against the cement, she started crying really hard. To make it even worse, the one grown up that was around was helping some of the other students and she didn't want to cause a stir. She hated when people saw her cry.

As the blood dripped down her knee, she sniffled away as the tears kept falling down her red cheeks.

The only thing she could remember was being pushed and hearing Thomas say, "Girls are stupid" before running away. After about 2 minutes of crying and holding her knee, a person was standing in front of her and it wasn't a teacher. She was actually surprised by who it was. It was Finn.

Kneeling down beside her, she tried to look away from him, not wanting him to see her crying and giving him another thing to make fun of her about. He surprised her when he opened one of the pockets in his backpack and took out a first aid kit.

Once she looked at him with curiosity, he made sure to explain himself.

"My mama told me to always be prepared for emergencies."

She watched as he opened up the kit and took out a piece of gauze and used it as a napkin to wipe up all of the blood. Rachel cried a little more at the sting of the pain, but Finn squeezed her hand and everything was better. Then he applied a disinfectant cream over the scrape and finally covered it with a bandaid.

"Why are you being so nice to me? I thought girls were stupid." She asked as she wiped away her tears.

"I was just mad that you took my ball. And you started it." He replied.

"You stole our cheering spot. So, you started it." She protested.

"Nah-ah." He answered.

"Yeah-huh." She threw back. "And you made fun of my lunchbox."

"Princesses are for babies." He said.

"No they're not!" He yelled, hitting him on the shoulder.

"Ow! Take it back!" He exclaimed, holding his arm.

"Make me!" She stuck her tongue out.

"Okay." He smiled, holding up tickling fingers. He reached forward and out came her contagious laughter. After they finished, they both sat in silence for a few moments. Then Finn broke it.

"Rachel, let's be best friends.."

"What's that?" She asked.

"You know, like friends but no one can come above your best friend. Like a brother and sister without fighting." He explained.

"Okay. Wanna come play at my house? I have a treehouse." She asked, smiling.

"Let's go!" He smiled as they all got on the bus together.

Soon enough, Rachel and Finn were inseparable. They were the best of friends and they didn't spend a day apart. Everyday after school, Rachel would either go to Finn's or Finn would go to Rachel's. There parents also became accustomed to the new friendship that they had found in each other. Hiram and Leroy Berry loved Finn as their own son and Carol and Burt loved Rachel as the daughter they never had it was like one big family.

As they got older, they began to know more and more about each other. They had already even seen things they weren't supposed to have seen When they went skinny dipping in one of the lakes in the back of Finn's house. They swore to secrecy that they would never tell, and that's exactly how it stayed to this very day.

The only thing that was a minor obstacle was the two year age difference. So when Finn got to eighth grade, Rachel was only in 6th grade, which meant that she would have to spend two more years at the middle school by herself. So, when Finn graduated, Rachel was heart broken. But, they still hung out every weekend and all summertime.

You could imagine Rachel's excitement once she became a freshman at William McKinley high school. The first thing that Rachel did was find Finn in the large crowd of people. He wasn't hard to find since he was the quarterback of the football team and anyone you asked knew who he was. It also helped that he was possibly the tallest person in high school and could be spotted from miles away.

Once she found him, she figured out his schedule and he figured out hers and it turned out that they had lunch together which made her happy. One thing that did sort of complicate things, though, was his popularity. Things weren't the same as they were in middle school. There were a lot more people that knew him and wanted to hang out with him at school and over the weekends. So Rachel often took rain checks often. The only time they would ever get to talk was if she found him early at lunch, in glee club, on the car ride home, and texting each other at night. Other than that, she tried to give him his space as she found some friends her own age.

By the time Finn graduated from high school, Rachel became a little depressed. Knowing that she would never see him again, especially with the newly grown feelings she had for him, she sort of kept to herself the rest of the two years she had there. The only thing that really kept her going was the glee club and singing out all of her problems.

Once graduation rolled around, Rachel was glad to see that Finn had came to see her graduation as we'll has Carol and Burt, with Kurt being in her graduating class. It was a little disappointing that Rachel's parents couldn't make it to her graduation to hear her speech, but what made her happier was that Finn told her that he was there for her and only her.

Once she got her acceptance letter to NYU, Rachel packed up everything and joined Finn in New York City, which she attended for 4 years before going to med school for another 4 years. Which, led to where they are now. To where she is now. Alone and sobbing on a roof top in New York City, the one thing she feared most. As she sobbed a little louder, she held onto her arms tight, scared that if she let go, she would fall apart.

Why couldn't things be the way they were before? She wanted to go back to that small bench at the bus stop to the girl who met the boy that made her feel like the specialist person alive, who still does to this day.

Before she could get any further into her thoughts, she heard the door to the roof slam behind her. As she quickly wiped away her tears, she turned and smiled when she saw who it was.

"Finn.."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Finn.."

"I really don't know how, but i sort've knew you'd be up here." he smiled as he walked beside of her, holding out a blanket to her. "I saw that you left your coat on the rack, so I got this for you. You must be freezing."

She began to chuckle, wiping the tears away from the bottom of her eyelids. She knew he could tell she'd been crying by the sympathetic look on his face. "You know me so well." she smiled.

"Rachel, I'm sorry about everything that happened back there. You didn't deserve any of it." he said.

"No, it's fine. I'm okay." she tried to assure him.

Finn didn't buy it. He never really did buy the lies. She guessed he knew her more than she thought.

"Rachel, we have been friends for a long time. You can pull the whole "I'm fine" card with Santana or Quinn, just know that you're fooling me. You can talk to me." He said, looking down at her.

"No. Really, I'm fine." She smiled, and walked away to the small bench in the middle of the roof. Joining her, Finn knew that deep down inside she wasn't okay just by looking at her face. It was like second nature to him Since he knew her so well for so long.

"Rachel, why are you being so defensive? Just talk to me okay? I'm here for you and I'm not going anywhere." He demanded.

Getting frustrated with him, she remembered the feelings of seeing her mother for the first time, yelling at her parents, Mandy, and Kurt's unexpected outburst. Then, it all flew back to her and before she knew it, there was nothing she could do to stop it. That's when it all happened.

She held herself in her arms again, as she sobbed. She felt terrible. Not only because of the terrible events that ruined her, supposed special day, but because she was crying in front of Finn. Rachel hated crying in front of people, especially Finn. There was just something that she hated about the vulnerability and weakness that came along with crying. She often thought that people would think less of her while seeing her cry. But Finn didn't. The only thing that Finn actually did was wrap his arms around her, and constantly told her that everything would be okay.

She knew she could trust him. That was never an issue between the two of them. But, Rachel just felt like she would be a burden if she sprung all of her problems on him. Today wasThanksgiving and it was supposed to be a happy day. She didn't want to ruin his day with her problems.

"You can talk to me. You know you can. I'm here." He whispered as he hugged her.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm her down from the rapid amounts of sobs that came before, she finally broke the silence that she was giving him, besides the cries.

"Everything is falling apart.." She barely got out through her sobs.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, gently rubbing back her hair.

"This wasn't supposed to be how today went, Finn. I wanted to spend my birthday having fun with the people that I love. Then, Kurt insults me, my parents show up an hour late with my estranged mother, and to top it all off, someone invited the ice queen, Mandy. What is she even doing here anyways?" she cried.

"I'm so sorry, Rach. I should've been thinking clearly. I invited her so fast without thinking. If I would've known the trouble that she would've caused, I wouldn't have even brought it up." he apologized.

"Wait.. You were the one who invited her.. Why would you do that?" She asked.

"We ran into each other on the street and she was going on and on about how she had no plans for thanksgiving and I felt really bad. So i told her to come over. It was really stupid and I should've just kept my mouth shut." He explained.

"It doesn't even matter. I have a feeling this day would've had the same fate even if she wasn't here. Kurt still would've found a way to lash out at me and my parents still would've brought Shelby." She said, feeling the weight of sadness take over her heart.

"I wish there was something that I could do. Like, flip a switch and turn off all of your pain. For some reason, I feel like this is all my fault." He looked down, as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"What? Finn are you kidding me? This is not your fault. In fact, this has nothing to do with you. If anyone's to be blamed, it's me." She replied, as she wiped a couple of loose tears away from the bottom of her eyes. By now, her makeup was probably smeared to the point where she looked like a raccoon. She didn't care.

"I should've protected you from all of this." He answered.

"Finn, That's not your job." She whispered.

"Yes it is, Rachel. You're my best friend and to see you like this really makes me angry that they could hurt you like this. It's exactly like that time Jessie broke up with you in high school. He's lucky I didn't put a dent in his show tune face, or whatever." He told her.

For the first time in a span of 13 or 14 hours, she actually felt laughter rise in her mouth.

"He was so scared when you confronted him. It made me feel better to see how much of a real whimp he actually was." Rachel chuckled, feeling a weight lift off of her shoulder.

"And I felt good because he learned his lesson for hurting you. Now Rachel, I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure if I try to threaten your dads I'd never be able to see you again, but know this. You don't have to go through this alone. I will always be right here beside you. You can alway talk to me, even if it involves crying." He assured her.

"Thanks. Did anyone ever tell you how good of a friend you are lately?" She asked, smiling up at him.

"No, but I'm pretty sure it would've came up sooner or later." He said, causing Rachel to playfully nudge him in the shoulder.

After about a few moments of staring out at the surrounding skyscrapers, the air was filled with an awkward silence that both of them couldn't handle. Rachel kept thinking that he would bring up what happened on the phone last night, but he never did. Finally, she broke the silence.

"I'll give you a penny for your thoughts." She smiled, looking up at his blank expression.

"I was just thinking about the old days." he smiled back.

"What about the old days?" She asked.

"Like, the first time we met. Do you remember that?" He asked, looking down at her.

"How could I not? You were such an ass to me." She replied, laughing.

"Hey! You were the one who stole our ball." He defended.

"And you were the one who stole our space to cheer." She added.

"Whatever, just know that you weren't the most pleasant first grader that I ever met." He chuckled.

"Oh come on, Finn Hudson, I'm simply the best thing that ever walked into your life. You don't know what you'd do without me." she chuckled, seeing his surprised expression.

"Honestly, you're right." they both became serious. "You're my best friend in the whole entire world and if I ever lose you, I don't know what I'd do with myself." He admitted, looking down at his hands.

"Thanks. It means a lot and I can honestly say I feel the same way." She responded resting her head on his shoulder with the blanket wrapped around the two of them. Finn felt her head on his shoulder so he wrapped his strong and protective arm around her. She finally felt a sense of peace for the first time all day.

"I'm really thankful for this, Finn. If I didn't have you in my life at a time like this, I seriously don't know how I'd cope. You're like that awesome guy best friend that every girl wants in their lifetime, and I'm glad to say that I already have one." She smiled out at the skyscrapers.

"And you'll always be my number one girl, Rach. Which is why I took into consideration what you said last night on the phone. So, Rach, I love you too because you are the best friend that anyone could ask for, and I want to stay best friends forever." He smiled. He really knew that what he had just said may of sounded stupid, since friendship wise wasn't the only way he loved her, but he didn't want to lead on the fact that he had been in love with her since high school. That would lead to a very awkward conversation.

"Oh yeah. Right. Best friends forever is what we're going to be like forever." Rachel said slowly, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. She was pretty sure she just go friend zoned.

"Have you eaten anything yet?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Umm, no. Why?" she asked, with an eyebrow arched. "What are you about to plan?"

"How about we get out of here?" He asked.

"What do you mean get out of here?" She asked.

Standing up from the bench, he smiled and pulled her to her feet.

"How about we sneak out? Just you and me? We haven't had one on one time in forever and I want to spend your birthday how it was supposed to have been spent all along. Just you, me, and the city that never sleeps." He said, as they walked to the door that led to the stairs.

"That sounds amazing, but how are we just going to sneak out? I need my coat, I can't walk around with a huge blanket all day, and my purse too." She asked.

"Leave the worrying to me. I know this has probably been a crappy start to your birthday, but I promise that you're never going to forget this birthday. Trust me." He smiled as they slowly walked down the stairs. Finn held Rachel's elbow to help her down since her heels were having a bit of difficulty cooperating.

When they got in front of Finn's door, Finn motioned for her to be quiet as he slowly and silently opened his front door and closing it behind him. From what Rachel saw behind the door was that everyone was either in the kitchen or the living room, depending on where the voices were coming from. So, she knew that he'd be safe if he stayed silent. Once the door opened again, Finn had his coat on, Rachel coat and purse in his hands, and a bottle of wine in the other.

Once they got on the elevator, Rachel turned to Finn with a questionable look on his face." Wine?"

"What kind of a celebration would it be without it? Rachel your one year closer to thirty. You're getting pretty old." He mocked.

"Real funny. You know you're older so technically, you're going to be old in a few years and I still have a little ways to go." She laughed as they made it into the lobby and outside the front of the building. As they walked out, Rachel's heart suddenly dropped when she saw Santana and Brittany waiting for a cab. They must've had enough, Rachel knew she had, that is unless Finn's mysterious birthday plans were like off the charts.

"Finn.. Don't look now, but San and Britt are over there." She whispered as they were waiting for their taxi.

Looking around, he felt a rough slap to his arm. "Ouch. What was that for?" He asked, rubbing his arm.

"I told you not to look!" She exclaimed in a low voice.

"Okay. Here is the plan. Once the can gets here, were gonna get in it as fast as we can." he explained.

"What if they see us?" she asked, a bit of fear on her conscience.

"They won't." he assured her.

So when the first cab arrived infront of the building, being waved down by Finn, they did just that. At first, Rachel thought that she Santana and Brittany were on to them, but once the pulled out of the building, Rachel looked out to see that they really didn't seem to see anything.

Letting out a sigh of relief, she looked over to see that Finn was smiling at her.

"That was close."

"Yeah." he agreed.

"So," she asked looking out the window, "What's the plan, Mr. Mysterious?"

"It's a secret." he smirked.

"Ohh, fun." she exclaimed, making Finn laugh as she looked out the window with excitement. "I love surprises!"

"You're crazy, you know that?" he asked, laughing.

"Yeah, but you still love me anyways.." she told him.

"You know i do. How are you feeling? Do you feel better now?" he asked, his expression turning serious.

"Honestly, I think I forgot about everything that happened earlier. So, yes, I feel much better. Be proud, you were a big part of that. I really needed a day like this, and whatever's about to come. This is going to be awesome, wherever it is you're taking me." she smiled brightly in his direction.

"Well, be prepared to have the best night of your life, because you deserve it." He smiled, pulling her in for a tight hug. He smiled when he took a whiff of her hair. He knew that she had used her favorite shampoo, strawberry, and he loved the smell of it.

By the time the cab stopped, Rachel looked around to see that they were in Central Park. She had no idea why they were here, but as Finn said earlier everything was a surprise. Part of Rachel felt like Finn was just planning all of this as he went along and another part of her thought he had all of this planned out before today even came. She'd have to ask him later.

As the cab stopped, Finn quickly paid, jumped out of the passenger side, running over to open the door for Rachel. Holding his hand out for her to take, he couldn't help but admire her pure beauty. Her long brown hair flowing down her back, her bright white smile, they way her brown eyes lit up when she laughed, and damn those legs. Finn had to be honest, she wasn't the tallest girl in the book, but when it came to her legs, he didn't care how short they were, they looked amazing, especially with the tall high heels and short appropriately short dresses that she always wore.

He had to stop himself from thinking these things. He would always be in love with her, no matter how hard he tried not to be, but she clearly didn't think the same way of him. he was simply her best friend and that had to be all. At least until he could no longer take the absolute pain and misery of seeing her everyday and falling more and more in love, because he clearly was now, especially with the way the dress made her look. She was the most perfect girl he ever knew, and he sometimes had to take a few breaths to catch a breath. It helped when she came over right after work, with her ruffled scrubs and her high messy bun, with no makeup what so ever. What was he talking about? Even then she looked like an angel to him.

Finn often thought about these things at night right before he went to bed at night. He would always imagine him describing her to their kids at night before their bedtime. He could imagine him explaining to them how he met their mother and she would be right beside him, with her head rested upon his shoulder as she listened to their love story.

"Well the first time I met your mother I didn't like her very much. She stole my basketball when I was trying to play my game.." He imagined it would begin with something like that. He always had these thoughts, the only bad thing, they were just thoughts, not reality.

Quietly walking on the side of her, he smiled as he heard the sound of her heels clicking against the walkway in the park. He knew her feet were probably killing, but he knew she'd never admit it.

As he walked beside her, he remembered the first time that he knew he'd felt more than just friendship for Rachel. He was in his senior year and Rachel was only still a junior. he had been sitting in the school's courtyard talking about the upcoming football game with a couple of his friends, including Sam and Puck. Mike Chang was also with them.

As they were getting further into their discussion they were interrupted. There seemed to be a bit of a commotion on the other side of the courtyard. Not another fight, Finn thought to himself. As they four guys stood up in unison with their matching letterman jackets, they walked further towards the crowd, who seemed to be surround around a table. Pushing people aside, Finn got to the front of the crowd of people, who appeared to be laughing. Once he saw what was going on, he was outraged with anger.

Rachel was standing by the table, covered in a colorful pattern of different slushies. Watching her, she grabbed her bag and quickly bolted out of the scene. Feeling like he was going to burst, Finn walked up to Mark Parker and his group of jocks.

Standing in front of the culprit, Finn punched him in the cheek as hard as he could.

"You're going to stay away from Rachel. You got that? All of you are. If I even see one of you within 5 feet from her, I swear I will knock the wind out of you and I will get you kicked off the football team. Is that understood?" He asked, holding Mark by his collar.

They all nervously shook their heads. Throwing Mark on the ground, Rachel ran towards the direction that he saw Rachel run in. Walking into the girl's bathroom he found her at the mirror with tears falling from her eyes.

"I know. I look pathetic." She paused, looking at herself in the mirror, wiping away some of the slushy from it. "Gosh, why does it have to be cold ice that they throw at me?" Wiping the tears from her already reddened eyes.

That was when Finn walked closer to her, grabbing a piece of paper towel from the dispenser, helping her wipe the slushy from her face.

"Look at me. You're anything but pathetic, Rachel. You're my best friend and you're the coolest person I know. So, don't let those stupid jocks tell you otherwise. Because, Rachel if you could see yourself the way I see you, you wouldn't be feeling this way right now. By the way, I'm pretty sure you won't be seeing to much of Mark and his pack of wolves anytime soon. I may have to go to detention for like two afternoons, but they totally had it coming. I'll always protect you, Rach. That's what friends are for. I mean, I protect you from scumbags like them and you protect me from my wardrobe, unless Kurt hasn't already beat you to the job. We're a team, right?" He asked, smiling down at her tear filled eyes.

"Right." She replied, smiling back at him. The speech that he had just come up with broke through to his heart. He knew he would do anything to protect her. And he didn't like the feeling that he felt when he knew she wasn't okay. From that moment, his feelings for her became very different from what they were before. He saw her in a new light. In that moment, Finn Hudson knew that he was in love with Rachel Berry.

As they were walking, Rachel stopped and turned to him.

"Where are we going?" She asked, with a bit of a whine to her voice. " We have been walking for like an hour and my feet are like really killing me. Are we almost there?" She asked.

He couldn't help but smile at how cute she was when she whined.

"What?" She asked, smiling. "Why are you smiling like a creepy person?"

" I didn't realize we were whining like three year olds today." He laughed.

"Hey!" she smacked him as he laughed at her.

"Actually we're already here." He smiled, pointing to the carriage in front of them, with a man waiting for them in front of the horse.

"You got a carriage ride for me?" She asked, feeling a hint of happy tears build up in her eyes.

"Its your birthday. Of course I did, you goof." He smiled, leading the way. As he got on, he grabbed her hands and helped her up beside him. As they sat down, Finn wrapped him arm around Rachel as he saw she was shivering. Snuggling into his side, Finn smiled at Rachel. He liked the way this felt. It was like they were a real couple.

looking around at all of the sites, Rachel couldn't help but feel her heart flutter at the speed of lightning. She couldn't believe that she was actually here right now. It was the best feeling in the world. Sitting on the carriage, looking at all of the pretty sites of the beautiful park in the city, while feeling the warmth of the man she was in love with. She told herself and Quinn that she would move on, but when he did things like this, she just couldn't. This was the nicest and most romantic thing that anyone had ever done for her and she deeply appreciated it.

Once they got off, the man who was driving the carriage handed Finn a bag of what looked like pellets in exchange for the money that Finn handed him.

"Wait. Did you hire him?" Rachel asked, as they walked towards one of the benches.

"Would you be mad if I said I did?" he asked, smirking.

"How did you have time to plan all of this before we left your building?" She asked.

"I actually planned all of this this morning. I sort of had a feeling today would go bad. I over heard a conversation between Blaine and Kurt, who seemed pissed at you, and then there was the whole Mandy incident. I knew you wouldn't be happy so, Plan B was formed." He explained.

"Well, that's really sweet of you. So here's my last question. What's with the pellets?" She asked, pointing to the bag in his hand.

"Well, as for our second stop in Plan B, as I shall call it, I thought it'd be nice to feed the pigeons. What do you say?" He asked, handing her a loaf.

"It sounds perfect." She laughed.

"Great. All we do now is sit here and wait for them to come." He said, looking around for any pigeons in sight.

Once Finn took a handful from the bag and three it on the walkway, they were instantly swarmed with millions of pigeons pecking away at the ground. Rachel smiled brightly as the two of them kept on grabbing handfuls of them and throwing them out, watching one another fight over the food. Hearing Rachel's laughs was like candy to Finn's ears. He could listen to her all day if he could.

By the time they were finished and all of the pigeons were gone, Finn stood up and looked down at Rachel.

"Okay, are you ready for stop number three?" He asked, with a big smile on his face.

"That depends, how many more stops are there?" She asked, with an arched eyebrow.

"Sorry. Can't say." He laughed at her frustration.

Once they got out of the cab for yet another time, Rachel smiled when she saw the name of the restaurant. It was Sardi's. This was her favorite restaurant in the whole entire city and she couldn't believe that Finn remembered.

While they sat down and got their menus, Finn looked at Rachel to see her looking around in amazement at the place. He knew she loved broadway with all of her heart and it made him feel great to know that she was probably in her own little world.

"So, I'm guessing by the look on your face you're pretty glad that we're here right now." He laughed.

"Are you kidding me? It's the best part of the whole entire night." She exclaimed, looking around and smiling at the walls of cartoons of famous people. He knew that Rachel could probably list every single one of them.

"I knew you would love it." he said.

After they ordered their food, Finn caught Rachel looking off into space. She seemed preoccupied in her mind.

"A penny for your thoughts?" He asked, gaining her attention.

"One day there's gonna be a picture like this of me on the wall." She whispered, looking around.

"I love how you dream so big, I don't know how to do that." He smiled at her.

She gave him one of those looks that said "aww" and held her hand to her heart, stating that she was flattered with what he just told her.

After they ate their meals and shared plenty of small talk, Finn and Rachel were off to their fourth destination. As they walked through Times Square, Rachel smiled as they walked through the bright lights and the loud horns blowing from the taxi cabs. It was really cold and Rachel was freezing her butt off, especially in the dress that she had on right now with just the little black coat that she decided to wear today.

"Are you cold?" He asked.

"Not that much." She responded.

"You're shaking." He stated.

"Okay. Maybe just a little." she admitted. That was all it took for Finn to pull her into his arms for warmth. She felt a lot better feeling his arms around her. The way he was acting towards her today was giving her the feeling that they were more than friends. But, she knew that he just really valued their friendship and would do anything for her.

As they walked further up the street, Finn suddenly stopped and looked up at one of the billboards across the street. What made things suspicious was when he looked at his watch and back at the billboard and back at his watch over and over again, until he smiled and looked down at Rachel.

"Look up."

Following his instructions, Rachel could have sworn she almost did a double take when she saw what was written on the billboard above. It was a message from Finn.

"_Happy Birthday, Rachel. You're the best friend that anyone could ask for and I hope you're having a really good time tonight. You really deserve it." _

Placing her hands over her mouth, she was totally speechless. She was afraid that if she did speak the tears would catch in her voice. She threw her arms around Finn and cried into his shoulder. She was so happy. Words could not describe how she felt at that moment.

"How on earth did you do that?" She got out.

"Like I said, I've got my ways." He laughed, holding her in an embrace.

"This is the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me. Thank you so much." She chuckled.

"Anything to make this the best birthday ever." He replied.

"I'm pretty sure that you've already reached your goal, because this is." she smiled up at him.

"Okay, how about the grand finale?" He asked.

"There's more? I thought this was the grand finale?"

"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't get you a cake?" He asked and with that, they made their way over to a local bakery and ate her birthday cake outside.

"So, how does it feel to be 27 already?" He asked. "Do you feel different?"

"Not really. I guess it just needs a little time to get used to." She responded.

"Well, I know we promised no gifts this year, but I simply just couldn't keep it.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

Opening the pocket to his jacket, he pulled out a slightly long black box.

"Finn.."

"Before you say anything, just know that I spent months trying to decide what to get you." He told her.

Handing her the box, she slowly opened it and gasped when she saw what was in it. It was a silver heart shaped locket, with diamonds on the heart, hanging from a silver locket. Looking at it, she couldn't believe that Finn went through so much trouble to get her this. She loved it and she would wear it everyday from now on.

"Are these real?" She asked, with a hint of disbelief.

"Yes." He laughed.

"Finn.. This must've costed you a fortune. I can't accept-" she was interrupted.

"Open it." He said, pointing to the locket.

Following his instructions, she opened the small heart, almost into sobs of joy once she saw the picture. It was the first picture that Carol had ever taken of them. They were out in the yard and they were covered in mud. The picture shows them holding each other tight.

"This is absolutely perfect. Thank you Finn. I can't believe you still have that picture." she said, hugging him and wiping away her tears.

"It's a starter picture. You can change the pic if you want." He told her.

"Never." She replied.

"We'll I'm glad you like it." He smiled.

"Are you kidding me? I loved it with all of my heart. I will never ever stop wearing this." She told him. "It means a lot. You mean a lot. Thank you Finn." She choked up.

"Anything for you. You mean a lot to me too." He said, as they hugged again.

Once they were back in the cab, Rachel became so tired that she fell asleep against Finn's shoulder. Looking down at her, all he could do was smile and think about how awesome today was. He got to spend the whole day with the girl he loved and there was no drama. He just wished that the day could last longer than it had.

As they arrived in front of Rachel's apartment complex, Finn walked her up to her apartment. As they arrived by her front door, Rachel turned to Finn and began to whisper.

"Thanks again for today. I really needed that. And everything you did for me today, I really loved it. It was definitely the best night of my life. I'll never forget it." She smiled up at him.

"I had a great time too. I just wish it didn't have to end too soon." he admitted.

"Me too. I owe you, big time. Once your birthday rolls around, Finn Hudson, you better look out for the best night of your life. And as for the locket, I love it." she replied.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Rach. It's getting late. I hope you had a good night, even though seeing how you've reacted, I would say you did." He chuckled.

"I absolutely did." she laughed. "Goodnight Finn. I'll see you tomorrow." She smiled and hugged him before unlocking her apartment and sliding down against the door. Now sitting on the floor, Rachel thought it was so funny how her day started out really crappy and just a few short hours later she was sitting here feeling the way she did. She had to thank Finn for today. He was the reason why her mood was great. He always was.

She only had one thing left to say that night.

"Best Birthday Ever.."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**Mandy's POV**

Things have been so weird lately. I just feel like Finn isn't all the way in this relationship, or at least what I think is a relationship. That's the thing, I don't really know what to call it. One minute we're hooking up, then he's denying me in front of Rebecca or whatever her name is, then he's all over me at the bar and standing up for me, and then he just leaves me in an empty room full of strangers I don't even know. And the worst part, he never came back. It was awkward to the point where I just excused myself.

I know what most of you are thinking, I'm not the most perfect girl on the earth and that I'll probably hurt Finn. But you're wrong. I want things to work out with Finn. I really do. I'm like already 28 years old, and I still don't have the fairytale I told myself I would have when I was 14 years old. I want nothing more than the perfect love story. Finn would make the perfect husband, and let's face it, our kids would be so adorable considering our perfect genes.

I know I can come off as a complete bitch most of the time, and maybe that's just because I had a rough home life, I don't know, I just want things and in order to get the things you want in life, you sometimes have to be impatient and bitchy if someone gets in the way. That someone being midget girl.

There's just something about her that intimidates me so much. The other day at Finn's house, his mother was going on and on about how long Finn and her were best friends and how close they were. I know I shouldn't have anything to worry about, I mean look at me, but she's really pretty too. I'm just scared that Finn likes her more than me. And if that is true, I don't think I can handle it. I need a plan to make a little space between the two of them.

I got it.. Midget girl, you have no idea what's coming towards you.

* * *

There was something about the way you felt once you knew for sure that you'd saved the person's life on the operating table. So, when they made the last suture to close up the patient, Rachel felt the relief boil over her.

They had been working on the same case for over a month now, and thanks to this final surgery, the little girl, Abby, was going to be able to leave the hospital for good. She couldn't forget the excitement and relief she had seen on the mother of the child's face the day that doctor Reynolds told them the news. It was an amazing day.

It was now 4:15 in the morning, and Rachel was exhausted. She had been working now for 8 hours and her shift would be over after she made her final rounds. Once she did that, Rachel finally left the hospital and got home to her bed, which she really missed. By the time she woke up from her bed, it was already 11:30 am and she was on her phone, she had no new messages as well as her pager. Getting up, she fixed the coffee she had been living on for the past few days.

Once she was done, with a large cup in hand, Rachel made her way over to the couch to see if she could catch up on Pretty Little Liars on Netflix. By the time she got to the episode she left off on, she was hooked.

The next time Rachel checked the clock it was 3:45, so she agreed to make it another unproductive day and to just order in. She was feeling Chinese, but then again, pizza was calling her name loudly. She would have to make a decision before it got too late. She would think about it when the time came.

After another few hours, it was already 9:45 and something was killing Rachel. It wasn't the fact that she was alone at the moment, because somehow the quietness soothed her after a full day of being stressed to the point that she had no idea what she was doing.

Lately her thoughts had been keeping her up at night. Maybe that's why she was so tired this morning. She couldn't get that much sleep the night before. Her thoughts had gotten to her again at the last moment. And those thoughts were the exact things that were killing her right now.

Ever since her birthday, she couldn't stop playing scenarios in her head. The way he acted that day towards her. It was almost like she wasn't alone with her feelings. Was it possible that he had feelings towards her? Rachel never thought it could be true, but what she witnessed that day. There may be a possibility that he may be feeling the same way. That would explain the romantic date-like day spent with him, how sometimes he looked like he was spacing out as they walked through Central Park, him wrapping his arm around her in the carriage. He bought her a diamond necklace for Pete's sake. Those were the thoughts that were eating away at her lately.

What if there was a possibility that Finn Hudson, her very best friend, was madly in love with her as well? She couldn't sit here and wonder any longer. Getting up from the couch, in her pajamas and bunny slippers, she grabbed her coat and wallet, and made her way downstairs to the nearest taxi. She wouldn't wait any longer. She would get the final answer she had been waiting for. Tonight, Rachel Berry would tell Finn Hudson that she was in love with him.

* * *

**Mandy's POV**

The plan is genius really. I still can't believe that I could've came up with it, but I did. The idea was really based on an episode of 90210, but I like to think that I was clever enough to watch it and actually pick up on it. So here's the game plan. I know for a fact that Finn is not in his apartment right now. How do I know that? Because I saw him getting into a cab about 10 minutes ago. Good thing I came at this time. I also know how to get myself in. He always hides his key behind the picture hanging across from his door, in the hallway.

So once I got up to his apartment, I found the key in it's usual spot and got it. All of his lights were still on. Silly him, he must have a bad record with memory. Oh well, once we're married he won't have that problem anymore.

Anyways, once I got in, I set my bags on his kitchen counter. I had everything in the bags that I needed, champagne and candles to set by the door. Once I got into the bathroom, I found Finn's bathrobe. I decided that my plan would go more smoothly if I put it on. So, that's exactly what I did. Once I had on only his bathrobe, I took my shoes and clothes and placed it by the door. After, I went into Finn's room, messed up his bed, and took some clothes from his closet and put them by my clothes, making a trail to the bedroom.

After, I lit the candles by the door, opened the champagne and found a glass in the kitchen to pour it into. After that was all finished with, I went back into the bathroom and turned on the shower, placing my hair under the faucet to make the scene look more realistic.

When I was finished setting this all up, I heard something ring. Walking into the kitchen, I was more than delighted to know that Finn left his cell phone on the counter. Looking at it, I got absolutely pissed to see that it was a text from Rachel. Of course.

Sliding the lock, I was relieved. He didn't have a password on his phone. Reading the text, I knew that this was my only chance to lure her in to my plan. So, I tok action.

Rachel: We need to talk. Are you home?

Finn: Yes. Come over.

Rachel: I'll be there in 10.

Finn: Can't wait. :)

As I finished typing, I placed his phone down and got ready for what was about to happen. I was finally going to win, and I couldn't be more than thrilled.

* * *

By the time the cab pulled up to Finn's building, Rachel's hands were shaking uncontrollably. She really didn't know what she was going to say or how she was going to say it. She couldn't just come out and say, "Hey, Finn. The reason I want to talk is because I love you and I have been in love with you since high school". It could be like ripping off a band aid, getting straight to the point. But, Rachel knew that Finn deserved better than that. He needed a long explanation of the way she felt and that's exactly what she would give him.

Getting out of the cab, Rachel paced back and forth, trying to waste time. She finally just got anxious and made her way to the elevator. By the time she got to his floor, she froze. How could she do this? Would they sit down and have a beer like old times? Watch a football game while catching up? No. He would suspect that something was up. She was in her pajamas. Things would never be the same after tonight, she knew that for a fact. She just didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Holding out her shaking knuckle, she slammed it into the door 3 times, and waited for everything to happen.

* * *

_Knock, Knock, Knock_

Placing down her tea on the kitchen table, Santana looked at Quinn and Brittany with confused eyes. They had all been sitting at the table for the past few hours while they gossiped about the latest news. And of course, Santana and Brittany just had to see little Jeremy again.

"Who is that at 9:00?" Quinn asked, feeling scared. It was New York City, 9:00 at night, and there was someone knocking on their door.

"Relax, Quinn. It's probably just Rachel." Santana said getting up from the table to answer the door. Once she got to the door, she looked through the peep hole to see who it was.

"Quinn, put the knife down. It's Frankenteen." She said, unlocking the door for Finn.

"Hey, Santana. I'm sorry it's so late, I just really need someone to talk to right now." he said, walking in and seeing the other girls sitting at the table. "Is this a bad time? I can come later on if you want." he said and turned to leave.

"Don't be ridiculous. Come sit." she gestured for him to follow her back to the table.

As he joined the girls at the table, Santana asked him if he wanted anything to drink.

"Tea's fine." he smiled, as the other two girls stared at him with confusion.

"What are you doing here at 9:00, Finn?" Brittany asked.

"Well, I was sitting at my house, watching a game on TV, and then the silence got the best of me. I need someone to let my conscience out on." he explained, taking the cup from Santana, before she sat down beside him.

"Well, where's Rachel?" Quinn asked, "Can't you talk to her about it?"

"That's why I came here to talk to you guys. She wouldn't understand..." he sighed, rubbing his forehead with his hands.

"What are you talking about?" Santana asked.

"I'm gonna tell you guys this. But, you have to swear that you will never tell anyone else, okay?" he told them, a bit of worry on his face. Like, whatever he was about to say would change him, or possibly, change everyone around him.

"We promise. Now spill, Hudson." Santana answered.

"My mind has been running wild lately. I've had these feelings forever, I just never felt the need to bring them to surface. But, lately I feel like if I don't tell someone, i'm just gonna explode. It's been eating away at me, so I need to tell someone. So, brace yourselves..." he told them. They all looked like they were about to fall of their seats. "I'm in love with Rachel." he finally admitted. It felt good to get it off his chest. Maybe it would feel that way if he told her.

"I knew it!" Santana exclaimed and clapped her hands together.

"Wait, like love, love? Like, couple, love?" Quinn asked. "Like you see Rachel as your soul mate?"

"Yes. I know more than anything that I want to spend the rest of my life with her. So, if that's what love feels like, than I love her way too much." he smiled at the thought of her.

"Aww, she's got Finnegan smiling." Santana said, ruffling his hair.

"You guys can't tell anyone. Please. At least for right now." he begged.

"Don't worry, Frankenteen. We won't tell Rachel that you want to marry and have babies with her." Santana laughed.

Rolling his eyes, he laughed with them.

"Does this make me girly? Coming to you guys for advice? I thought of going to Puck and Sam but for some reason I didn't think they would get it. You guys get it, right?" he asked.

"Finn, you have nothing to be ashamed about. I think you are a real man for coming to us for advice, instead of making a dick move like most guys usually do. And trust me, you did the right thing coming to us. Sam and Puck probably would have talked you out of it. And trust me, we get it." Quinn smiled warmly. "But, you have to tell her. You can't keep this from her forever, or else she might move on."

"Thank you guys for understanding." he smiled at all of them. " And I will."

For the rest of the night, the five of them stayed at that table talking. Sometimes about the day they had, the gossip in their lives, but most of all, Rachel.

* * *

Standing in front of his door, Rachel waited to see the person who she need to see all day. She knew the moment that he would answer that door, he would make her day better.

As the door swung open, Rachel's heart fell to her toes and her face went frozen. It wasn't Finn at all. It was the person she despised the most, Mandy. She hated the image in front of her. Her long blonde locks were soaked, pulled up into a high bun, much like Rachel's when she had a rough day at work. There were candles by the door, and Finn's clothes were on the floor, she was even holding a glass of what looked like champagne. But that wasn't what bothered her most. She really wasn't bothered with the sound of the shower running in the background, which was probably where Finn was. What bothered her the most was that she was wearing his bathrobe. Finn was very protective when it came to that robe. It was his father's. He once got mad at Rachel for washing it without asking permission. And now, she was just walking around it, like no big deal.

How could she be so stupid to think that he actually had feelings for her? He never loved her and now she knew it for a fact. He had just been acting so weird lately. Did everything that happened the night on her birthday mean nothing to him? It probably was just some stupid friendship thing again. She couldn't believe she was going to tell him she loved him tonight. Now, she felt like a big fool. Especially being the girl standing in the doorway witnessing another one of Finn's one night stands. She felt like a love struck idiot who just found out that her boyfriend was cheating on her. But Finn wasn't even her boyfriend. She thought he wanted to be, but it turns out looks and actions could be very deceiving.

She couldn't keep standing there. If she did she would break down and become defeated. After everything, she would not let Mandy see her cry.

"Oh hey Rachel. Finn's in the shower.. Do you want to wait for him to get out? Or I could tell him you stopped by." she asked.

"Umm actually, could you just give him a message for me?" Rachel asked.

"Sure.. Anything." she replied, smiling down at Rachel.

"Tell him that I never want to see him again and that I hope the two of you live happily together." and with that, Rachel was running towards the elevator.

"Okay. You have a nice night Rachel!" she heard Mandy call behind her, but she just ignored it.

That night she went home and cried her eyes out. She couldn't get pass the fact that this was a reality. The next day at work, she was looked at like she was a leper. Her eyes were swollen from the crying and she didn't feel like putting much effort into her appearance. Her hair was in a messy ponytail. Finn broke her heart, before she even knew he could. She felt depressed. Which, she had no reason to. He was her best friend and It was her fault to even to think that they could be more. It was really her fault, for hopeless dreaming. She shouldn't be mad at Finn, if anything she should be mad at her own self.

Once her shift was over, she really couldn't handle going home alone. She would just cry her eyes out again. She needed someone to talk to.

* * *

After Finn finally got home that night from Santana and Brittany's apartment, he was just ready to crash. When he walked through the front door, things seemed a little off. First things first, his front door was unlocked. He thought he remembered that he locked the door and kept the key behind the picture frame. Looking behind the frame, the key was there, so maybe he just forgot to lock it. The lights were on, he remembered they'd been left on. But once he walked through the front door, he knew something was up. There were candles lit by the doorway, and he knew for sure that he didn't light any candles before he left. Someone was definitely in his house.

Walking further, he heard the shower running, but that wasn't what stopped him. His good suit and shoes were spread across the floor with clothes that didn't belong to him. They were girl's clothes.

"Is anyone here?" he called out.

Walking into the kitchen, Mandy was sitting at the counter drinking a glass of champagne. He instantly became pissed, not only because she broke into his house, but because she was wearing his father's robe.

"Hey Finn." she smiled, walking towards him. "What do you think? I thought I would surprise you." she chuckled.

"Why is my good shoes and suit spread out across the floor?" he asked.

"The maid must've dropped it while she was cleaning." she replied.

He knew she was lying. His maid didn't come today.

"Why are you wearing my bathrobe?" he asked, anger boiling up in his tone.

"Oh yeah. Don't I look cute in it? It fits perfect on me doesn't it?" she asked, standing up to model around in it.

"Take it off." he growled.

"What?" she asked, shocked with his tone.

"You heard me. Take it off. And, get the hell out of my house!" he yelled.

"Why are you being so mean to me? I just wanted to surprise you!" she said, getting up and grabbed her clothes off the floor.

"This isn't surprising. This is breaking and entering. Get your clothes, change, and get the hell out of my house or else I will call the police."

"Fine." she cried, slamming the bathroom door behind her.

Once she was out of the bathroom, fully dressed, she tried to make her case.

"Look, i'm sorry. I just really love you." she told him.

"I don't feel that way about you, Mandy. I'm sorry. Just, get out of my house before I get a restraining order." he said, pushing her away as she tried to hug him.

"Fine. But, you'll pay for this." she said, before she exited his front door.

Why did this night have to be so difficult for him. It was already 2:30 in the morning, and he came home to a psycho chick in his home, wearing his special robe that was his father's. Rachel would've never done that. He wished he could just go over to Rachel's house and tell her about what happened and what he feels for her. But, she was probably sleeping right now and he didn't want to bother her right now. So, he just went to sleep.

* * *

It was 5:00 in the afternoon and Rachel was scared to go home to just cry her eyes out again. So, she went to the only place she knew where she could just let it all out.

As Santana answered the door, Rachel walked straight into the house crashing on the couch. Quinn was there again with Sam and Jeremy. Puck was also there, which she had no idea why. She sometimes wondered why she wasn't invited to these little hangouts. It was probably because she always had to work, but at this point, she really didn't care.

As she laid her head down on the couch, she felt her own tears. They were all standing around her now, probably because they heard the sobs but she didn't care, she just let it out. As Santana sat on the side of her, she rubbed her back and pulled her hair out of her face.

"I'm done. I'm just done." Rachel choked out.

"What's wrong, Rachel?" Quinn asked, sitting beside her.

"I went by Finn's house last night to tell him how I felt and M-M-Mandy was there and she was wearing his robe and he was in the shower and I felt like an idiot. I'm d-d-done with l-love." she explained while she coughed on her own tears.

"Wait... When was this?" Santana asked, with an eyebrow raised.

"Last night." Rachel replied.

"No, what time?" she asked.

"I don't know. Around 10. Why?" she asked, as loose tears fell down her calmed face. She was now at the point where she was trying to catch her breath from her tears.

"That's impossible, Rachel. Finn was over here most of the night." Quinn said.

"W-what?" she asked.

"He came at around 9 and he left at like 2. Finn wasn't home when you went, if you went at 10." Santana explained.

"But that's impossible. Mandy was in his house. There were candles. His close were on the floor." she explained like they didn't believe her.

"She was messing with you Rachel. Finn was over here." Brittany told her.

"But why was he here?" she asked.

"He told us not to tell you." Quinn said.

"Quinn! Way to give it away. Now she's gonna be suspicious." Santana exclaimed.

"Would someone please tell me what's going on?" Rachel yelled.

"Rachel, the feeling's mutual..." Santana finally confessed.

"Am I supposed to know what that means?" Rachel asked, looking at all of them.

"Finn wasn't home last night because he came over here to tell us that he was in love with you." Santana told her.

"I have to go." Rachel jumped up.

"Wait, Rach.. We weren't supposed to tell you!" Santana called after her, but it was too late, she was already on her way.

* * *

Once Finn got home from work the next day, all he wanted to do was shower, plop down on his couch and watch ESPN. But he knew that wasn't going to be a possibility once he heard the loud knocking on the door. Getting up, he paused the TV and walked to the front door. When he opened it, he was surprised at who it was. It was Rachel, she was in her scrubs with a coat over it, her hair was messy, her eyes were swollen and she seemed to be crying. Looking at her, Finn felt as confused as to what was going on with her.

"Rachel? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"We need to talk."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"We need to talk." Rachel said, looking up at Finn's confused eyes. She was scared. This time, it was a good scared. This could be the day that all of her dreams finally come true. She just hoped it wouldn't be screwed up.

"Can I come in?" She asked.

"Um, yeah sure." He said, standing to the side so she could walk past him. As she walked in, he closed the door behind her.

"So, what brings you here?" He asked, watching her take off her coat and put in on the rack, along with her scarf and gloves.

"Can we go sit down somewhere? How about that cafe up the street? The one with the good coffee.." She said grabbing her coat, scarf, and gloves.

"Wh-? Rachel, you couldn't have just asked me to meet you there? What is up with you today? You seem off.." He said, looking down at her with concerned eyes.

"Finn, can we please just go? I'll answer any questions when we get there. Please." She begged standing by the door.

"Okay. Let me grab my coat." He said, turning to the coat rack.

As they walked across the street and further a little ways, Rachel couldn't help but hold her breath. What if tonight ended in a total mess? one thing was for sure. After tonight, they would never be the same. Things would change from here.

Once they arrived to the cafe, Finn and Rachel both set their orders of coffee, which then left them to the real reason why they came here. To talk.

"Okay. What's so important that I had to leave my house to hear?" Finn asked, crossing his arms and looking at Rachel.

"You're doing good right? I mean, with Mandy and all?" She asked, looking down at her coffee cup.

"Rach, you dragged me all the way over here to ask me about my love life?" He asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Just, Finn, please answer the question.." She whispered.

"Why should I? It's not like you're answering any of mine. What is up with you?" He asked.

"Please.." She asked.

"Fine. No, I broke things off." He admitted.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because, things were never going to work with us.. I kind of have someone else in mind."

"Do I know her?" Rachel asked, tensing up in her seat.

"What are we, in kindergarten?" He asked.

"I just want to know if I've ever met her.." Rachel said.

"No. Her name is Rebecca. I met her at a bar a few weeks ago, when Puck and I went. You'd probably really like her." He smiled. It was totally obvious that he was lying. He never really was good at it.

"You're lying to me.." Rachel said, looking at him across the table.

"What?" he asked, he seemed confused.

"After work today, I stopped by Brittany and Santana's." she stated. Finn's eyes went wide as she's ever seen them.

He didn't say anything. He just waited for her to continue what she had to say.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked, her voice was barely able to be heard.

"Tell you what?" He asked, trying to seem oblivious to what they were talking about.

"Stop it! I know you know what I'm talking about, Finn. How come you never told me that you were in love with me?" She exclaimed.

"I can't believe they told you." He growled in a low voice.

"And I can't believe that you never told me yourself." she answered back.

"I was scared, okay?" He admitted.

"Scared of what?" She asked.

"Of this.. You look so angry. This is going to change everything. I bet our friendship has already taken it's tumble." He explained, running his hands through his hair.

"How long?" She asked, feeling sympathetic. She had no idea if she tell him or not? Everything she's ever wanted was being laid right in front of her. All her dreams were an arms length away and all she had to was reach forward and grab him. "How long have you felt this way?" She'd wait.

"Since high school, I guess. Senior year." he said, looking at her with a saddened expression.

Before she knew it, a few tears were running down his eyes and he was grabbing her hands in his. "Rachel, I never meant for this to happen, but it just did. I fell in love with you and I'm not gonna apologize for that. I just hope that this doesn't ruin us. I need you in my life. So, please don't run away." He pleaded.

"So, for my birthday, everything that you did, was because you love me?" Rachel asked, trying to get him to explain more. She wasn't going to pretend that this wasn't completely awkward for them, because it was. It would be until she told him how she felt inside.

"What can I say? I'm a bit of a hopeless romantic." he chuckled, trying to make light of the situation.

"You said that all of this started in high school. Exactly when did it start?" she asked, taking a sip from her coffee.

"Why do you need to know so much, detective?" he asked her.

"Because, all of this is just so... confusing for me. I never thought we'd end up here.." she said.

"It was that day when you were slushied by those football players and you were in the bathroom. Something just changed inside of my mind. You were so vulnerable and I just, I felt like I had to protect you from everything. I felt a tether to you. It was such a weird feeling when I first got it, since I never felt it before, but now, it's there all of the time." he told her.

"That's impossible.." she mumbled, remembering the moment she fell in love with him. "I'm sorry, I can't do this." Rachel said, standing up. Finn stood up with her as well. Grabbing her arm, he looked into her eyes with sad eyes.

"Please, Rach. Don't run away." he begged, they were starting to get an audience in the café.

"I'm sorry." she whispered, trying to avoid the people staring at her.

"It's okay, Rachel. I didn't expect things to go the way I wanted them to. So, I completely understand if you don't want to talk to me again." he whispered as she walked out of the door.

* * *

Getting to her apartment, she cursed herself in the mirror in her bathroom. She couldn't believe how much of an idiot she was being. She knew that everyone would probably what the hell was wrong with her. Hell, she had no idea. She was so stupid. Ever since high school, she would sit in her room and dream about this one day. Yet, when the day she had been longing for actually came, she was too much of a fool to actually embrace it. Instead, she had to run out like a little chicken.

She knew her reaction at the café was wrong. She just left him there when she could've at least stayed to talk a little more. She was just so scared to tell him how she felt. The look on his face when she got up was just enough to kill her inside, but if things changed between the two of them, she might become even more dead inside. Plus, she had been holding everything inside for so long. What if she said the wrong things or made the wrong impression on him? Hell, she'd already done that when she zoomed out of the freaking café.

She couldn't believe that she didn't just come right out and tell him everything she had been feeling. He was the most trusted person in her life. She could go to him with every secret in the pit of her soul. He was obviously her soul mate too. Fate made that totally clear to her. Especially the fact that they both fell in love with each other at the exact same time. What were the chances? Finn Hudson was her best friend and she knew she could go to him with everything.

Maybe that's why she was so scared to tell him. What if they got together only to break up in the future and ruin the best friendship they had built for so many years. She loved Finn with all of her heart, but if they would get together, she would not be able to cope if something happened to cause him to leave forever.

But then again, she had been wanting this for a very long time and the guy she liked finally admitted that he liked her too. So, she was hanging on both ends of the pros and cons list. She just had no idea how to make her decision.

Looking at her tear-filled eyes, she finally decided that enough was enough. She would stop acting like the scared little baby she was and she would march over to Finn's to tell him everything. Starting from the first time she saw him, to now. She liked the boy and the boy liked the girl. She would reach out at her dream and grab it, hopefully do more than that too.

* * *

Getting out of the cab, Rachel rushed through the lobby and took the stairs because she couldn't wait for the elevator. Once she was standing in front of his door, she was out of breath. Quickly, she knocked on the door four times and stood back to wait for an answer. It took a few seconds for the door to open, but when it did, she was face to face with Finn.

His face was red signaling that he had been crying. He never cried, she knew that she had really hurt him.

"Rachel.." his face lit up when he saw her. She walked past him and into his house.

"I'm sorry I ran out on you, Finny." she said, hugging him tight with tears building up in her eyes. "Finny" had always been her nickname for him since the first day they spent playing together. She hadn't been using it lately. She sort of dropped it once they got to New York, but now, she needed to used it more than ever.

"It's okay, Rach." they held their embrace for a few seconds and then parted.

"No, it's not. I just sat there while you poured your heart out to me. Then, I just ran out on you. That's not okay. I'm a terrible person." she cried.

"We were put into an awkward position. Plus, I should've went after you." he told her.

"Is it okay that i'm here? I know you have to get up early tomorrow morning.." she asked, looking down at her hands.

"Are you kidding? Stay as long as you want. Actually, are you hungry? I'm about to start cooking. How does pasta sound?" he asked.

"It's incredibly unbelievable how forgiving you are.. I wish I was like that." she mumbled.

"Rachel, we've been best friends forever. It's totally okay that you don't feel the same way. It's water over the bridge now. C'mon let's eat. I have some of that wine you like from that store down the street and you like your going to fade away. You need some food. Especially my amazing cooking, as you can remember." he laughed.

"Okay." she smiled, following him into the kitchen.

Once they got there, Finn placed a pot of water over the stove for the noodles. Watching him, she poured herself a glass of wine. Thank God alcohol was involved. Without it, she would be a mess.

"So, you never told me how work was today.." Finn said, as he took out the cutting board and a couple of tomatoes and mushrooms from the fridge.

"Actually, it was amazing. We finally cured that little girl Abby that I was telling you about. She doesn't have to come back to the hospital anymore. Well, unless she gets an injury or something. What about you?" she asked, nervously sipping down on the dark red liquid.

"That's awesome!" Finn exclaimed, while chopping a tomato. "My day was pretty boring. Just walked around the office all day, and did some paperwork in my office. Nothing out of the norm. Definitely didn't make a difference like you did today. Congrats Rach, I'm so proud of you."

"Okay, I need to tell you something." she couldn't hold it in any longer. It wasn't fair to either of them.

"What?" he asked, looking up from the chopping board again. He had a look of concern in his face.

"Just, promise me that you won't talk until I'm finished okay?" she asked, circling the edge of her glass with her index finger.

"Okay, I promise." he smiled.

"I don't really know how to say this. I mean theirs the part where I just get straight to the point and theirs another alternative where I just start from the whole beginning. I think to get you to understand, I'll just start from the beginning." she took a deep breath, looked at Finn who was looking directly at her, and then began.

"Remember, we would hang out with Katy down the street and her and I would put on our dress up clothes and you would run around with your sword. I remember we used to always fight over which one of us would get the prince and every time, even when I thought Katy would win, you always chose me to be your princess. Since that moment, I knew that you we were going to be best friends forever. You were always like my knight in shining armor. You rescued me from a lot of tragedy in my life. You were always there to catch me if I fell, like the time my favorite dog died, Patches, that divorce scare between my parents, that fall I made on the concrete, the breakup with Jessie. Finn, you were even there for me when I tried to push you away. You're like the best person in my life and If I said that there was anyone who could compare to you, I'd be lying. So, this is why I have to get this out." she stopped and chuckled a little when she saw the tears forming in his eyes.

"It's the onions." he told her.

"Of course." she laughed.

"Get what out?" he asked, referring to the story she was telling before.

"September 21, 2012." she started. Finn looked at her like she was crazy. Maybe she was.

"What?" he asked.

"The day was September 21, 2012 and it was a Friday I think." she was interrupted.

"Why are you describing a day to me?" he asked.

"Can you just listen?" she begged.

"Go on."

"Like I said, it was Friday, September 21, 2012 and it was lunch time. I had just come back from English class and I was sitting alone in the courtyard, going over my notes for the Geometry test I had next class. I was completely lost in thought until a group of football players gathered around my table. Mark Parker and his pack of wolves, if i'm not mistaken. They were playing some kind of sick joke and I knew it, so I got up and tried to leave before I had cold, wet, slush dripping down me. I was completely humiliated and all I could do was run away to avoid the laughter. So, when I got to the bathroom, I saw myself in the mirror and cursed myself for how pathetic I looked. Then, the door opened behind me. I thought it would be someone wanting to get my reaction on camera, but instead it was you. You told me that I was awesome and that I shouldn't listen to what they say about me and how you'd always protect me and you were just so sweet. You even helped me get the ice off of my face. From that moment on, I knew that something was different. I felt a change in the way I saw you. After we walked to our separate classes, I knew that I was in love with my best friend." Rachel took a pause to let everything sink in.

"What? Rachel how could you not tell me this?" he asked. He sounded hurt.

"I wanted to, I really did. It's just that..." she began.

"What? Why couldn't you tell me?"

"I was scared, okay?" she admitted.

"You don't think that I was scared, Rachel. The whole time I was just blabbering on about how I loved you and you didn't seem to feel the need to mention this. You made me feel like a complete idiot for saying all of those things to you. And, when you walked out, you made me think that you didn't feel the same way!" he sounded angry now.

"What about me, huh? All of those crazy things that I did for you? All of those crazy things that I had to do to get rid of your multiple chain of one night stands.. Was I suppose to just look at all of those pretty women and say "oh, I think that Finn is in love with me"? I was scared to tell you because every time I came even remotely close to saying it, there was always someone else. I knew that I'd never be good enough for you because I thought you only saw me as your friend. I've kept this in for so long, Finn. You have no idea how many times I've cried about this. The only reason I know this is because Santana told me. If she wouldn't have, I don't know If I would ever know, because I had to pry it out of you. I didn't tell you earlier, because I was scared. I'm still scared right now." she cried, tears were forming in her eyes. The weirdest thing was that just a few minutes ago they were getting along.

"Why didn't you tell me all of this before? I would've listened, Rach!" Finn exclaimed.

"Because, I was scared of rejection. I always thought that you saw right through me. The first time I wanted to tell you was at your graduation. I had a speech and everything. I was going to walk up to you and just speak my mind." Rachel began.

"Why didn't you?" he asked.

"Because, when you walked out of that gymnasium, you didn't even see me. You walked right past me to talk to Claire Houston, the captain of the cheerleading squad." Rachel mumbled, tears were rolling down her eyes like rain on a window.

"I was congratulating her on her award for Athlete of the Year." Finn explained, his head in his hands as he sat next to Rachel.

"Finn, I didn't know that. I was a 16 year old girl. When a 16 year old girl sees her crush talking to another girl, what else do you think they're going to think? I was 16 and you were 18. It would have never been okay, you were older than me. No college boy wants to date a girl in high school." she explained, as she tried to catch her breath.

"Don't you get it Rachel. In my senior year of high school, all I wanted was you. If you would've told me all of this then, we could be happy now instead of all of this drama." Finn whispered, looking at her.

"Then if all you've ever wanted was me, then what was Mandy?" Rachel asked, angrily.

"I don't know. She was always just gonna be one of my many one night stands. I guess I was just trying to move on from a love that I thought would never exist. Hence, all of my one night stands. They were all to get my mind off of the one girl I loved most, you." he told her.

"How about when we were in that bar and you were defending her when I told you to stay away from her, or at thanksgiving, she was there too?" she asked.

"First of all, I was drunk. Second, I didn't end the night with her, did I? If I recall, I ended up giving you the best birthday day ever." he explained.

"I was gonna tell you last night. I came by, and when I got here, she was here. She was wearing your robe, the really special one that you never let anyone touch, she had champagne in her hand, there were candles everywhere, and your clothes were on the floor. When she told me that you were in the shower, I think that's when I lost it. I couldn't breath or sleep, all I could think about was how you let her wear that robe and how all of my hope for us was vanished. Finn, I thought you slept with her." Rachel sniffed. She was crying now, which caused Finn to take her in his arms.

"You know I would never do that, right?" he asked.

"I know you didn't. But, if you would've I don't know what I would do. I thought you loved her instead of me." Rachel got out through her sobs.

"Rachel, there's no other girl on this planet that I could ever love more than you. Well, maybe my mom, but that's different. You're my number one girl and you always will be. I love you with all of my heart and I will until the day it stops beating." Finn said, placing her hand on his chest to feel his heart beat.

"It's going really fast.." she mumbled.

"That's because you're here."

Everything went by so quickly. One minute their lips were grazing each other's and the next Finn was holding Rachel in his arms with her legs wrapped around his waist. One minute they were in the kitchen, the next they were in the hallway, knocking down pictures from the wall onto the carpet. Hopefully nothing broke. He held her against the wall in his arms as he showed all of his passion in their kiss. Rachel never knew what it was like to kiss Finn Hudson, but now that she did, she could see what she'd been missing out on.

"You're knocking down pictures." Rachel said in between kisses.

"I don't care." Finn replied.

"They might be ruined." She added.

"I don't care." Finn smiled into their kiss.

Before she knew it Finn turned the knob to his bedroom door and from there all things went. This was simply the best night of Rachel Berry's life.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

As soon as light hit Rachel's face through the window, Rachel's eyes fluttered open and she knew that she would be up for the rest of the day.

Last night came flying back to her memory, making her smile. It was one of the best nights in her life and she would never forget it. The thought of everything that happened last night sent chills up her spine, and she couldn't be more pleased. Rachel now knew that she had missed out on so much all these years. It was like a fairytale. The way Finn looked into her eyes. The way he caressed her cheek and held her in his arms. She felt so safe and loved. She felt invincible. There was no other place on this planet that she wanted to be than in his arms. Smiling to herself, she thought that if she was given forever, she'd be able to spend it with the love of her life.

**Last night**

The smell of Finn's cologne was all she could smell and considering the situation she was in right now, she didn't care. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and he was holding her up against the door that had just been closed behind them. He placed small kisses on her neck as she held him close to her.

It was unbelievable how fast her heart was going at the moment. She felt like it would beat out of her chest at any minute. This was just so unreal to her. It was like she was in some sort of trans or dream. Finn Hudson, her best friend in the entire world, was about to make love to her.

Placing both of her hands on his cheeks, he looked at her confused. His eyes were filled with lust. Looking down at her, he placed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I love you." she smiled.

His grin spread all the way across his face, ear to ear.

"You have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that." he replied, kissing her.

"You have no idea how long I've waited to say it." she said in between their kisses.

Holding him close to her, she felt that she never wanted to let go. She loved the way they were right now. Everything felt so safe and warm. Picking her back up, he walked a little further and placed her down on his bed. Laying down, she looked up at him and smiled as he gazed at her.

She then got up on her knees so she could be even with Finn's face. Grabbing hold of his business suit, she tugged it off of him and threw it on the floor. She knew that that was Finn's good suit, but at this point neither of them cared. He smiled as she giggled. Grabbing his tie, Rachel pulled Finn closer to where their lips barely touched. Finn was the one who broke the space in between them. She had no idea how long they were stuck in that position. All she knew was that she loved Finn with all of her heart and the way he had his arms wrapped around her showed that he loved her too, just as much. With every kiss, Rachel's eyes fluttered. The butterflies in her stomach were going crazy and her goose bumps were visible.

If she had to be honest, Finn was the second person that she's ever slept with. Jessie being her first. She wished with every fiber in her being that he was her first. With Jessie, she never felt what she was feeling now. When she slept with Jessie, it was mainly to see what it was like. She had never done it and was curious. She knew that she'd regret it, and that she did. She wished that she had waited to find the right guy to give her virginity to. She wished that she had waited for Finn, because what she was feeling now was not at all normal. This is what true love must feel like, she thought to herself.

Unbuttoning his white shirt and throwing off his tie, Rachel smiled into his dark amber eyes. Each kiss they shared made her fall in love with him over and over again. She wished she would of known that all those years of torture and pain crushing on him would lead to this.

Throwing his shirt on the ground, she looked at him. It's not like she had never seen his abs before. There were plenty times where she'd seen them. He'd had them since high school. But now, like this, it's like it was the first time she'd ever seen them.

"My man is so sexy." she whispered in his ear, causing him to chuckle and lift the top of her scrubs off of her, leaving her in her bra and scrub pants.

"So are you, my dear." he whispered in a low voice, causing her to get the chills again.

"Kiss me.." she demanded.

"Sure thing, Ms. Berry." he smiled and pulled her into another one of the many kisses they've shared.

Tonight would go down in history as the best day of Rachel's entire life. She hadn't planned it, but she was glad that it was happening.

Laying her down, Finn got on the side of her and continued. Grabbing the string on the lamp, Finn switched the lights off to where the room was nothing but completely dark. Then, they proceeded. The rest of the night was their chance to profess their love to each other. Over and over again.

* * *

**Now**

Rachel looked over at the clock on her side of the bed. It was only 7 o'clock. Wrapping the satin sheets around her she sat up and looked over to Finn's side. Feeling worry creep up on her, she looked at them empty side. Getting up she put on her underwear and found Finn's button up shirt on the floor and threw it on. It was so big on her that she had to roll up the sleeves a little.

Opening the door slowly, she tiptoed through the hallway and towards the living room. Once she got a little closer to the kitchen, she heard pots and pans being moved. It also smelled like something was being cooked. Slowly walking a little further, she watched as Finn was whisking a bowl of eggs and watching the small T.V in the kitchen while doing so. It was football on the TV, imagine that..

Sneaking up behind him, she wrapped her arms around his stomach and hugged him close to her. Letting go, he placed the eggs down on the counter and turned to wrap his arms around her.

"Good morning, beautiful." If she thought his voice was sexy last night, she understated it. His groggy, morning voice was much more attractive.

"Good morning." she grinned as she got on her tippy toes to kiss Finn. She could wake up like this every morning. "What's all of this?" she asked, looking around at all of the food.

"It's a special breakfast for my special girl." he smiled.

"You didn't have to do that for me..." she smiled, looking around.

"I wanted to. It's the best I can do to thank you for last night." he winked.

"Are you kidding me right now? Thank YOU." she got closer.

She was loving this little sexy talk they'd developed overnight. He was so good at it and she felt awesome when he did it.

"Maybe I can show you my gratitude another way." he whispered grabbing the remote and turning off the TV. Picking her up, he placed her on the free space on the counter and starting aggressively kissing her neck.

"Wow, me over football? I feel loved." she said, as she gasped in pleasure.

"You are loved, with all of my heart." he whispered as he took her into his kiss. Even better than last night, Rachel thought. How was that possible?

The only thing that interrupted them was the loud growl that came from Rachel's stomach. Pulling apart, Rachel looked at all of the food and then back at Finn.

"I love the thought of a little morning delight, but that food over there is calling my name." Rachel whispered.

"I knew you'd say that." he laughed.

"We'll continue this afterwards." she said, in a low voice, trying to sound sexy.

"I'll be waiting." he smiled, as he place her back on the ground and handed her a plate from the cabinet.

Sitting at the counter, Rachel gulped down her food. She didn't care if Finn was watching her. He was her best friend for a long time. He'd seen all there was to see about her. She wasn't scared to hide anything from him.

Looking at him, she watched him as he took a bite out of his pancake. Looking up at her, he quickly swallowed and spoke.

"What?"

"What does this mean for us? Where do we go from here?" she asked, not knowing what any of this meant. Did they want to start a relationship or was this friends with benefits? She was so confused.

"Well, Rachel Berry, would you do me the honor of becoming my girlfriend?" he asked.

"Absolutely." she responded, pulling him in closer to her.

"Great. Let me change my relationship status on Facebook." he laughed.

"Are you serious?" she asked, laughing as well.

"Or you know, I can always put it in words and flash it in Times Square, like last time." he winked.

"You would do that for me?" she asked, placing her hand over his.

"I want the whole entire world to know that you belong to me now. Of course I would, Rach. I would do anything for you." he smiled.

"Aww, how in the world did I become the luckiest girl alive in a matter of not even 24 hours?" she asked.

"Well, it helps that i'm like really hot." he joked.

"Really..." she played along. "Well, i'm like really stuffed with this nice breakfast that my boyfriend made me, so, how about that desert?" she asked, moving closer to him.

"Well, if you insist.." he began before he jumped up and grabbed bridal style.

"Finn, what are you doing?! Put me down!" she squealed as laughter filled the air. Nothing made Finn more happy than Rachel's very distinctive laugh. It was one of the things he loved most about her.

"You're lucky i'm not tickling you!" he chuckled.

Taking her back to the bedroom, he closed the door behind him and showed her how thankful he was for last night and this morning.

* * *

Laying next to Finn, Rachel had her head rested on his bare chest as they watched the ceiling fan rotate in circles. She was thinking about the future. She was thinking about if the rest of her life consisted of days like this, she'd be just fine. She was thinking about if this thing would really last. If this was her one true soul mate lying next to her, or just another fling that would end in flames.

She was most scared of that. She needed Finn in her life just as much as he needed her, and if she would ever loose their friendship, she would probably never be able to cope again. It was like a life or death situation. The victim, their friendship.

Finn noticed that Rachel was zooming off into her own little world, as he watched her watch the fan spin round and round.

"Penny for your thoughts..." he said.

"At the rate my mind is going now, I think I'll be selling them for a dollar." Rachel replied.

"Then, consider me sold. What's going on up there in that mind of yours, gorgeous?" he asked.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just scared for the future."

"What do you mean?" he asked, holding her tight in his arms.

"I'm scared that this thing will end in flames like all of my other relationships, and if it does I don't know if we'll be able to recover. Finn, what if we loose our friendship over this?" she asked, worry creeping into her voice.

"I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought of that before. But, I know one thing Rachel. This is the real deal for me. The feelings I have for you, I've never had them for anyone else in my life." he tells her.

"I don't want another Jessie in my life. I already had one. That was enough." she whispered.

"Rach, don't you see? I would never do what he did to you. He was an idiot and he's lucky he skipped town before I could get to him. I can't tell you anything about the future, because I have no idea. But, one thing I do know about it is that you're there with me. Because, the way I feel right now, there will be another girl in this whole entire universe who can make me feel this way." he explained.

"So, you think this can work?" she asked, smiling up at him.

"I don't just think, I know." he smiled back at her and placed a kiss on her forehead.

* * *

By the time the clock hit 9 am, Rachel knew that she had to start doing housework in her apartment before she would leave for her 5:00 shift at the hospital. She really didn't want to leave, but she knew that if she didn't she would be a week behind on all of her chores, especially laundry. She was stalling at the moment. She had it set in her mind that she had to be out the door in the next 20 minutes, but her mind told her to look for every reason to stay.

Grabbing her purse from the counter, a shirtless Finn in sweat pants watched her as she gathered her things together and adjusted her ponytail in the hallway bathroom mirror.

Leaning against the door frame as he watched her, she looked at him through the mirror, and smiled to herself.

"You know, when you walk around the house like that, you make it so hard for me to leave." she chuckled as he walked closer to her. Wrapping his arms around her from behind her, he placed a light kiss on the side of her neck.

"Then stay.." he whispered in her ear.

"I wish and trust me, if I didn't have things I had to get done at the apartment, I'd find every reason to." she smiled up at him as he placed a kiss on her lips.

"I'll be heading out to San's in a hour or 2, but call me as soon as you get home, okay?" he asked.

"I will. San's? What's going on at San's?" she asked.

"I have no idea. She left this very vague message saying that Quinn had a surprise she wanted to tell me. I'm kind of nervous about it, to be honest." he explained.

"Oh my gosh, that's today? I totally spaced out. I guess I was a little distracted. I can clear out some time on my schedule." she said.

"Well, then I have something to look forward to." he smiled, taking her hands in his.

"My day just got a whole lot better. How's that even possible?" she asked.

"Because you know you're going to see me again and seeing me is like the best thing in the world." he joked.

"Don't flatter yourself too much, Hudson. But yeah, seeing you is the best thing ever." she laughed.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist." he smiled.

"How can I?" she asked, closing the space between them.

Getting carried away in their full blown make-out session, Rachel finally jumped back into reality to find that 20 minutes had already passed since she told herself she would be out the door.

"Okay," she started, pulling out of the kiss, "I really have to go. I'll see you later, babe." she smiled as she headed for the door, grabbing her jacket from the racket.

"You know, you make the walk of shame look so hot." he laughed.

"Yeah, maybe next time it'll be your turn." she smiled, as she jumped up, pecked his lips, and turned to walk out of the door. Leaving the building, Rachel felt a huge weight fill her heart. She found it a little strange at first, never having felt it before, but once she got used to it, she finally realized what it was. It was this feeling of lust and she was feeling it right now because she wasn't with the one person that satisfied those feelings. She knew then and there that every doubt she was feeling in her heart had vanished. Her feelings proved that Finn Hudson was the one. It felt so weird to admit to herself after just spending one night with him. But, what she was feeling at this moment wasn't normal and people always said that true love isn't normal.

* * *

**Here's chapter 11, Finally! lol sorry. School has just been a huge bitch to me lately. Everyday i'm either studying, doing homework, or writing a huge paper or essay. I will try to upload another chapter maybe tomorrow or sometime soon, but no promises on when. I hope you guys enjoyed this little fluffy chapter. And also, sorry if the sex part wasn't good. Lol, I suck at writing stuff like that. Future note: I would probably be a terrible smut writer.. Also, sorry this chapter is so short. Anyways, enjoy and please give me your feedback! Thanks :) **


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Setting down the broom against the wall to end her much needed done chores, Rachel sighed and went to her bathroom to start getting dressed for work this afternoon. It was only about 12:30, which left her a little over thirty minutes before she had to go to Santana's for Quinn's "special"announcement, whatever that meant.

She could honestly say that she really had no idea in the world why she needed to be there, as Quinn had explained. Nor did she care. All she knew was that He would be there. That was enough reason for her to go.

She really couldn't explain it. It was like there was this small, invisible string holding the two of them together. Whenever she would get farther away the string would start to stretch and finally break, leaving a huge weight on her heart. She never felt anything like that before with Jessie. It was like her heart broke every second she was away. Finn Hudson had that power over her.

Throwing on her pair of scrubs and tennis shoes, she smiled thinking that she would see him again. She knew it sounded kind of silly, getting excited over seeing someone she saw earlier this morning, but still, it was Finn Hudson. She visualized the way things would go today, or how she wanted them to go. She would walk through the door to Brittana's apartment, and he would be standing there. His big goofy smile would appear on his surprisingly flawless face. Those beautiful dark amber eyes would stare right through her. She would completely melt into pieces like every other girl usually did in the presence of Finn Hudson.

She never really thought about it, but if she had to be honest, now more than ever she saw him as something a little more than she'd always seen him, her best friend from elementary school, which by the way would make up the best story to tell their kids in the future. Now when she looked at him, she didn't see that little boy who helped her up when she was crying on the ground. She saw him as Christian Grey or Edward Cullen. The way he'd made her feel last night and this morning, made her feel like she was in her own romantic book series. A fairy tale. She guessed that's what came along with falling in love with your childhood best friend.

The truth was, Rachel couldn't have asked for anything better. There was something about falling in love with your best friend that's just different from regular relationships. Finn was always there, and nothing changed really, well, besides the I love you's and the sex. She felt like there was nothing in the world that she didn't know about Finn, because over time they'd gotten to know everything about each other. She knew that Finn absolutely hated pickles and spinach, loved football with a passion, watched the entire "Star Wars" series every time he got sick, hated rainy days, unless it got him out of something, then he loved it. She also knew that his favorite color was yellow, he was the vanilla over chocolate kid, and he was obsessed with classic rock. She also knew some things about Finn that no one on the planet knew, including Carol. Like the times he talked about his real father. She didn't know for sure, but she was the only person, besides Carol to actually see him cry. That was another thing she knew about him, he hated to cry in front of anyone. It gave him a feeling of embarrassment being vulnerable in front of another person.

She also knew that he knew just as much stuff about her, maybe even more. Rachel trusted him with every little secret, or thing that she had. She trusted him with her life and she knew she'd never regret it. He knew things about her like, her favorite day of the week was Thursday, she loved chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, she cried every time she watched "The Notebook", she hated cream soda with a passion, she loved the outdoors, she got her heart broken in pieces by Jessie St. James, she got drunk off of her ass after four beers, she had her first kiss with Michael Peterson, the boy who lived down the block from Finn and Rachel, and she loved playing dress up and putting on performances for Finn and her stuff animals. He was always there for her, even when she wasn't there for him. Most normal relationships had to be built up to that as it progressed. For them, everything that had to be built up to was already there.

The only thing that bothered her was how different they were as individuals. Finn was humble and had the most selfless heart. She, on the other hand, was a bit too ambitious and selfish at times. She held grudges while Finn let things go. She cried and screamed while Finn was always the one to try and keep the peace. She was an excellent liar, while Finn couldn't lie to save his life. She always felt like he was too good of a person to be friends with her. She sometimes felt like she didn't deserve him.

Looking into the mirror one last time, she smiled and walked to the door, grabbing her purse off the table. Before she could open the door, her phone started going off.

"Hello?" She answered, smiling.

"Hello, beautiful. Where are you?" Finn asked, making her blush.

"I'm about to walk out of my apartment. Why?" she asked.

"I need to discuss the game plan with you before we get to San and Britt's." He explained.

"The game plan.." She laughed as she repeated Finn. A hint of confusion was evident in her voice.

"Yes, the game plan. It's been like only a few hours and I can't stop thinking about you. I can't help wanting you all to myself for just a few minutes." he told her.

"I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one feeling this way. So, what's this game plan?" She asked.

"Well, since Quinn has this announcement thing for her, I really don't think we should steal her spotlight. What do you say we do a little acting today Ms. Berry? You can play the role of the awesome best friend and I'll play the role of the rich, charming, and very handsome best friend as well." He explained.

"So, basically we're going to pretend that there's nothing going on between us so we don't take all of the attention away from Quinn?" Rachel asked.

"Well when you put it that way it doesn't sound fun." He laughed.

"Okay. Just, one condition." She answered.

"What's that?" he asked, waiting for an answer.

"You can't get caught up in your character." She said.

"Are you kidding me? Never. This relationship is the most important thing in my life. Which, brings me to my game plan. Are you ready to hear it?" He asked.

"Shoot." She replied.

"Step one, you come into the apartment and hug me like we would normally do, but then go with Quinn and the girls and leave me with the guys, giving no extra attention to each other or else they'll become suspicious. Step two, Anytime we share conversation, it has to be normal, like we were before we got together. Step three, listen to whatever Quinn has to announce. Step four, depending on how exciting her news is, if and when everyone gets excited, we'll sneak up to their roof and get our alone time that I've been needing. Then, finally, step five, we return to normal, but on the inside nothing will be normal, because all i'll be able to think about is you." He explained.

"Wow, you really thought hard about all of this, didn't you?" She asked, giggling.

"Anything to get to see my pretty girl. After the gang gets used to whatever Quinn says, then we'll be able to tell them. I want the whole world to know you're mine, Rachel Barbra Berry." He smiled.

"I love you, you know that?" she asked.

"If I didn't, would I be acting like a crazy person coming up with a plan to sneak behind our friends' backs?" He asked.

"You're definitely right about that. I'm here, I'll see you in a few babe. I love you." She smiled.

"Can't wait to see my baby girl in those sexy ass scrubs." He laughed, giving Rachel the idea that there was a smirk on his face.

"Does that include my high messy bun and my eye glasses. Oh yeah, with no makeup at all..." She added.

"Of course it does. You're the prettiest girl on the planet. You always have been and always will be the most beautiful girl in my eyes, no matter what physical appearance you project. Okay, enough with the cheesiness, that's reserved for our alone time. See you baby. I gotta go, i've been in here a while now. They'll think I'm pooping. I love you."He said.

"That's the most original thing I've heard you say in all of the years I've known you." She laughed. "Okay, bye baby. I love you too."

She smiled as he said bye and hung up. She just arrived and she only had a flight of stairs left separating her from him. Rushing up them, Rachel got in front of the door and noticed that she was shaking with excitement. Taking a deep breath, she fell into actor mode and knocked lightly on the door.

"Rachel! You made it!" Santana exclaimed with a glass of wine in her hand, standing by the door. "Just in time!"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. Whatever it is. Santana why exactly am I here?" Rachel asked walking behind Santana to where everyone else was.

"You'll see." She smiled, entering the room.

Rachel's heart fluttered once she got a glance at Finn. He was holding a bottle of beer while he carried on a conversation with Puck and Sam. Once he noticed her walk in, she smiled as his eyes became brightened. Act normal, Rachel, she thought to herself.

It took about a total of twenty minutes for Rachel to say hi to everyone, including Finn, who acted normal around her, even though she knew for a fact that it was killing him on the inside.

Once they Quinn started gathering everyone into the living room, Rachel's heart fell to her toes as Finn and her were forced to sit next to each other. She smiled at hi. As his knee brushed against hers. Looking around, no one noticed.

Once everyone was either sitting or standing, Sam and Quinn went towards the front of the room, hand in hand. Looking at the two of them, Rachel sighed silently. She really wished her and Finn could be doing that right now. But, he did promise her that they would tell someone soon, so she wasn't completely hopeless.

"Okay. Thank you all for coming! We really didn't want to make this announcement too soon, for reasons of our own, but we thought 'what the heck'." Quinn smiled nervously gripping onto Sam's hand.

"What's going on?" Finn asked.

"Should I tell them or should you?" Sam asked.

"Would someone please tell us?" Santana asked.

In unison, Sam and Quinn spoke. "We're having another baby!"

Right after those four words, as if on cue everyone just got up and rushed to Quinn and Sam to give them hugs. The excitement in the room was extremely evident and Rachel couldn't be happier for the two of them.

"Oh my gosh! Quinn, I'm so happy for you!" Rachel exclaimed, hugging her best friend close to her.

"Thank you so much Rachel!" she smiled at her. "Can I talk to you in private while Sam is getting all of the attention for now?" She whispered.

"Of course." She replied, following Quinn away from the group.

"Since Santana is the godmother of Jeremy, I'd love to ask you to be the godmother of this baby." Quinn smiled, laughing when Rachel's jaw dropped.

"Oh my goodness, are you serious? Definitely Quinn! I would love to be the godmother of that beautiful baby boy or girl in there!" Rachel exclaimed, low enough for people not to hear her. "Come here!" She laughed.

"I think i'm about to start crying. I'm so happy right. Jer's gonna be a big brother!" Quinn smiled, choking in her voice.

"Don't start crying. You'll make me! I'm so happy for you guys. Jer's gonna be the best big brother there is." Rachel smiled, turning to see Finn smiling at her from across the room.

_Finn_

"You know, maybe you should go talk to her. Who knows, maybe in a couple of years this'll be the two of you." Sam said patting Finn on the shoulder, noticing his staring at Rachel.

"What? No, dude. Actually I met someone yesterday." Finn said.

"Really?" he asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

"Yeah. At a cafe." Finn answered.

Sam did some thing that made Finn regret even saying anything.

"Guys, Quinn and I aren't the only people with good news." Sam smiled, pointing to Finn. "Turns out the Finnster finally found himself a lady."

Looking to Rachel, her eyes grew wide as they both realized their plan failed.

"Tell us about her." Quinn smiled, walking to her husband.

"Yeah, Hudson. Why don't you tell us about this mystery girl?" Rachel sarcastically said following behind Quinn.

"Fine." He smiled at Rachel and turned to everyone else who we're waiting for him to go on.

_Rachel_

Sitting on the couch next to a curious looking Santana and Brittany, Rachel waited for him to go on.

"I'm so sorry, Rach. We really thought he meant it when he said he loved you." Santana whispered to her.

Smiling at Finn, Rachel replied. "It's okay. Sometimes it takes the right amount of waiting for the right one to come along and sometimes they're just always there and you never know it."

She spoke as if she were mesmerized, and there was no doubt that she was. She was about to hear her goofy boyfriend describe a fictional character, and although normal would be to look hurt, she felt like a dork in love on the inside.

"So, you're okay with all of this?" Santana asked.

"I've met the girl. She's a complete dork and he's way out of her league, but they're perfect for each other. There's no denying that." Rachel explained.

"You confuse me so much, Rachel Berry." Santana answered.

"I know. You'll understand someday soon though." Rachel replied before the room got quiet again.

"What are you waiting for, Frankenteen? Let's hear about this chick." Santana called out.

"Okay, well we met last night at this cafe down the street from my house. Tonight wasn't the first time we met though. It turns out, we went to school together. Yes, she's from Ohio as well." Finn explained before he was interrupted by Santana.

"Oh, I bet it's that girl Stefanie Heartman."

"No" Finn replied to Santana. "Anyways, like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, she's from the same place as us." Finn smiled, thinking about the girl he was describing.

"What is she like?" Quinn asked.

"She's amazing. That's not even enough to describe her. When we sat in that cafe and talked, the whole world stopped. Gosh, I can't even find the right words to describe her. Her beauty could light up the world half as bright as the sun. Her voice is so angelic that it gives me goosebumps every time she speaks. Her laugh, I don't even know where to begin with her laugh. In my honest opinion, that's the best thing about her. It's so distinctive. Her laugh makes you laugh." He smiled to himself.

"I look at this girl and for some reason, I feel like if I can't be with her every second of everyday, then I can't be anything. I really think she's the one." He admitted, making Rachel's heart drop to her toes and her eyes widen even more.

"Whoa, bro. Slow your roll. Didn't you only meet the girl yesterday?" Puck asked.

"It's different with her. You just know. It's this feeling that weighs down on your heart." he replied.

"Well, when can we meet this girl?" Brittany asked.

Looking over to Rachel, he smiled and spoke. "Soon. Very soon."

Before the both of them new it, Finn's news had died down and the group returned to their excitement for Sam and Quinn. Rachel really couldn't believe the events that just happened in her life. Not only would she soon be a godmother to a beautiful little baby Evans. But, Finn made her sound like a princess to all of her friends. She couldn't wait to the see the look on their faces when they realized who Finn's mystery girl actually was. She knew she'd never hear the end of it form Santana. She didn't care.

After grabbing a glass of wine from the kitchen, Rachel headed back for the living room, hoping to join in the group's conversation. Getting close enough to actually hear the conversation, she decided that she wouldn't get herself into that one. They were already talking of baby names and due dates, and quite frankly Rachel really didn't want to talk about that right now. She loved babies to death and the fact that her best friend was having another one, but she really didn't want to get carried away with it. All she wanted was Finn.

Now that she thought about it, Finn wasn't in the small group of people surrounding the couple. Actually, Finn wasn't anywhere in the room. Looking around, she didn't see him anywhere. She then realized something. The game plan. Setting her half empty glass down on the kitchen table, Rachel quietly snuck past everyone, and made her way out of the apartment.

As if some kind of signs were being pointed her way, she had this feeling deep down inside of her that she would know exactly where he would be. Climbing up the emergency exit stairs, she stopped in front of the metal door, feeling the cool wind hit her make-up less face, causing her to hug the small cardigan over her light blue scrubs close. Sure enough when she walked out, she found his slim, tall figure leaning against the concrete balcony and looking out to the big apple. She never really noticed before, but he looked even hotter from far away. This man was like a freaking movie star? How had she not noticed that looked like this so many years ago?

"Hey stranger." she whispered, wrapping her arms around him.

Smiling he turned around and placed his arms around her and held her tight as he continued to look out to the city. It was sort of perfect. The sun was at the perfect spot in the sky, projecting off a bright orange light on the two of them. She hated that it was almost time for her to go to work, but she didn't think about that at this moment. The only thing that mattered to her was her prince charming and how warm and safe she felt wrapped in his arms. The orange sun shown on them like it did on Jack and Rose when they were "flying". It was perfect and she never wanted it to end. But, like everyone said, all good things must end at some point.

"You look like you've got a million things flying in that head of yours." she smiled, gripping his cheek with her hand. "What's on your mind, baby?" she asked.

"Everything's just changed so much over the past year." he said as he stared out to the horizon.

"Isn't that a good thing?" she asked.

"I don't know." he replied.

"Oh." she looked down at her feet.

"I'm sorry, Rach. This has nothing to do with you. You're the best change of the year and I honestly have no idea where I would be if you turned me down that night at that café. You're everything." he explained holding her tighter.

"Then what's got you so worked up? You're kind of ruining the mood for our little game plan." she laughed.

"I'm just nervous." he admitted.

"Nervous? Finn Hudson is nervous? About what?" she asked looking up at him.

"In nine months from now i'm going to be a godfather." he sighed.

"And that's a bad thing?" Rachel asked.

"No. It's just a scary thing for me. All the responsibility in becoming a godfather. I mean I was okay when Jeremy was born because they chose Puck, but now it's me. I've never really had to do this before. What if i'm not ready?" he asked, looking down at her with fear in his eyes.

"You're making it sound like you're the one who got pregnant, Finn." she smiled.

Frowning, he looked away and out to the city again.

"Hey, look at me." she said, holding his face in her hands. "Do you remember that time I got stuck with Jeremy for the weekend while Sam and Quinn went out? Because I do. You knew exactly what you were doing then. Like, the moment you cradled him in your arms, he stopped crying. Or, when we went to Times Square with him, the look on your face was priceless. You were so happy. I remember looking at you that night, and knowing with all of my heart that you would make the perfect father to a very lucky kid one day. You may not have the father role yet, but there will be one lucky kid here very soon. Sam and Quinn's daughter or son is gonna be absolutely crazy for their uncle Finn. That I know with no doubt. And hey, if you ever need help or advice with any of it, come to me. Since, I did just get named a godmother by Quinn myself." she smiled as Finn's eyes lit up.

"Wait, we're going to be godparents together?" he asked.

"We're going to be godparents together." she confirmed.

Beaming, Finn took Rachel in his arms and hugged her tight.

"Are you nervous now?" she asked.

"Not anymore." he smiled and leaned down to kiss her.

"I love you." she whispered.

"I love you too. If only you weren't the only one who knew it." he replied.

"Soon, I won't be." she smiled. "Now, tell me a little more about this mystery girl.. Is she hot?"

"Oh, totally. Especially when she's dressed in scrubs, with a messy bun, eye glasses, and no makeup." he joked.

"Now I know you're lying." she laughed, jokingly pushing him away.

Pulling her back into his arms, he smiled and whispered in her ears." I wish I were. But, i'm not. You're the prettiest girl in this whole entire world and i'm the luckiest guy in the world because I get to have you all to myself. How in the world did I not figure this out before high school? You were there all along and I didn't even take a second look. I'm such and idiot.." he said, wrapping his arms around her from behind as they both looked out to the city.

"Have I told you how you're the best boyfriend in the whole entire world?" she asked, leaning into his chest.

"You make have mentioned it once or twice." he laughed.

"Good, because I honestly have no idea where I would be without you. You're my everything. I know it sounds crazy to be saying things like this after being together for like only two days, but it's different with you. I feel like we've been together for a long time, we just never noticed it." she said, closing her eyes and taking in the somewhat warm sunlight that hit both of their faces.

"I thought I was the only one who felt that way. Rach, I know things are going extremely fast with us, but honestly, I want them to continue this way. I like where we are right now." he smiled, kissing the side of her neck.

"Me too." she smiled.

A moment of silence was exchanged between them before Finn spoke again.

"I could just stay like this all day."

"I wish it could be like that." she replied.

"I think I should spend the rest of the day convincing you to stay." he smirked.

"I have to be at work in 30 minutes, Finn. I really don't think you have that much time." she frowned.

"I guess a little time apart would do us some good. We've been attached at the hip lately." he said.

"Actually, we did really good today in front of everyone. I'd say that if we both had a shot in LA, we'd both make the lead roles. You'd make a hell of a good costar. The paparazzi would love us!" Rachel exclaimed, laughing.

"I can already imagine their faces when we tell them. They'd probably all have to sit down." he laughed along with her.

"Santana's probably going to start screaming in Spanish for keeping it from her. You know, today when you were explaining your 'mystery girl' to us, she asked me if I was okay with all of it." she giggled.

"No way. What'd you say?"

"I told her that I'd met this lovely girl already and that she was a complete dork and that Finn Hudson was way out of her league." she smiled.

"You know that's not true. It's probably the other way around." he laughed.

"What are you talking about Mr. I was the quarterback of the high school team and liked to flaunt around in my big letterman jacket and let everyone that I was super popular?" she teased.

"Hey, it's not my fault that I was way more popular than you. You studied during lunch period, Rachel." he laughed back.

"But you have to admit that i'm the best dork around, right?" she smiled brightly.

"Always and forever. Gosh, we're acting so cheesy, Rach." he laughed.

"That's because we're a cheesy couple, Mister!" she exclaimed, tickling him in the stomach.

"Yeah, I guess we are." he beamed.

"Crap! I lost track of time. I've got to go. I'll see you later okay? I love you to the moon and back a million times and maybe even a little more." she exclaimed as she kissed his lips for the final time and ran back to the metal door. Watching her leave quickly, Finn smiled to himself and whispered to himself.

"Yep. That's the girl who I want to spend the rest of my life with."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**2 weeks later**

_I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend_

_Lucky to have been where I have been_

_Lucky to be coming home again_

_Lucky we're in love in every way_

_Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed_

_Lucky to be coming home someday._

Turning the knob to the shower, Rachel stepped out and wrapped a towel around her. Walking up to the mirror, she smiled at her reflection.

She, in fact, was lucky. She was the luckiest girl on the planet for all that she knew. Everything had been perfect these past two weeks and she had no idea how they could get any better. Finn and her could both happily admit that they were going steady. He even gave her his high school letterman jacket to make it official. That afternoon would be forever implanted in her heart. It was a major milestone for the two of them. She went to his house to watch the Super bowl with him.

"Okay, we're definitely going to have to order take out tonight." Rachel smiled as she walked behind Finn to the kitchen.

"Why? I thought I could cook us something." he turned around and smiled at her.

"Finn, listen to that last sentence carefully." she laughed.

"What's wrong with my cooking?" he asked.

"You can't even make ice without burning it." she giggled watching his face.

"Okay, if you're referring to the turkey incident a few years ago, that was one time." he chuckled.

"Too bad. We're eating take out. End of story, Mister." she said, sitting on the countertop so she could be the same height as Finn.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she smiled as he looked at her. "I don't care. As long as I get to spend the night with you." he said, pulling her in. The passion and lust that felt that kiss had Rachel feeling drunk.

"I love you." she smiled in his kiss.

"I love you more." he smiled back as he held her frame in his arms.

"That's so far from being true." she replied.

"Whatever you say." he whispered. "I have something that I want you to have." he said, turning to leave the room.

"Wait, where are you going?" she called.

"You'll see." he called from the back of his house.

Jumping down from the counter, she leaned against it and waited for him to come back.

"Okay" he started getting closer, "Close your eyes."

Closing her eyes, Rachel smiled as she felt Finn's presence again. "Okay, arms out." he said, which Rachel could almost hear the big smile on his face. She wondered what it was.

Holding out her arms, she felt something soft and heavy being placed in them. Almost like it was a piece of clothing.

"Okay, open them." he said.

"Opening them, Rachel took in the large Red jacket. She didn't even have to look at it twice. She knew exactly what it was. His famous letterman jacket.

"Finn... This is so romantic, but I couldn't possibly take this from you. It's your letterman jacket." she said in pure astonishment.

"Come on, Rach. We're going steady now. Don't you remember the old tradition?" he asked.

Now that she thought of it, she did remember. In high school, around football season the football players would give their jackets to their girlfriends or girls that they wanted to take to prom. So, those girls would flaunt around in their guy's overly-sized letterman jackets. She remembered, because she didn't know how many times she wanted to be one of those girls. So, now that Finn was presenting her with the opportunity, she didn't know whether to be pleased, or flat out more head over heels for him than she was before.

"Omg, I can't believe I'm dating the quarterback of the football team!" she exclaimed as she sarcastically hyperventilated in a stereotypical cheerleader voice while putting on the overly-large sized jacket on her small frame.

"It looks perfect." he smiled.

"You have no idea how much this means to me." she told him.

"You have no idea how much it means to me that you took it. For a minute there I thought you were gonna give it right back to me." he replied.

"I would never. I love you too much. Plus, it's like so warm and comfy and it smells like you." she laughed, hugging the jacket closer to her.

"I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to walk up to you at your locker in high school and hand it to you." he told her.

"Why didn't you?" she asked.

"I don't know. I guess I was too much of a coward. I was scared that you would turn me down and things would change." he explained.

"Well, you were wrong. I would've gladly accepted it and then I would have hunted down Quinn, Kurt, San, and Britt to tell them and rub it in their faces. Well, except for Quinn. Sam was the first football player to give his jacket to his girlfriend." she laughed.

"If I would've known, it would have been the first thing that I would've done." he smiled.

"Well you did now and I couldn't love you more for it. This is the best thing that anyone's ever given me." she beamed, wrapping her arms around him.

"There's nothing I wouldn't do for my girl." he hugged her back, kissing the top of her head.

"Good, because there isn't anything that I wouldn't do for my boy." she smiled up at him.

"I love you, baby."

"I love you too, Finny. With all of my heart I do."

"I don't know what I would do if you didn't." he said, holding her close to him, as she sat on the counter, making them the same height.

"Me either. Hey, I have an amazing idea. The game doesn't start for another half hour. How about you show me just how much you love me?" she asked.

Laughing, Rachel was swiftly swooped off the counter and into Finn's arms as he walked towards the back of the house. Something told Rachel that Finn absolutely agreed with her idea.

* * *

Once she had placed on a pair of skinny jeans and a dressy shirt, she left the bathroom. Plopping down on the couch, she picked up the remote and began swiftly flipping through the channels.

Tonight was the night. Finn and Rachel were finally going to tell their group of friends that they were together. Rachel couldn't be any more happy than she already was. She finally going to be able to express her love for him in public without having to keep everything a secret. She just wished that everything would be okay and that they would all be supportive.

It was getting close to the scheduled time in which everyone was appointed to meet at Bella's, one of New York City's many sports bars.

Turning off the TV, Rachel walked to her bathroom to start getting ready for tonight. She was wearing dark blue skinny jeans, tall tan wedges, and a flowing top with a floral print. All there was left to do was to put on her make-up and fix her hair. Once she was finished, she smiled in the mirror as her heart fluttered. It was almost time.

Hearing her phone beep on the coffee table, she checked it to see that it was a text from Finn.

"Wear my letterman jacket, gorgeous. I want everyone to know you're my girlfriend."

Replying, she typed "Okay. See you in 10, my love."

Going back to her closet, she grabbed the large letterman jacket from it's assigned hanger and put it on and smiled as she took in the scent. Finn.

Once she got there, Finn, Santana, Brittany, Quinn, and Sam were sitting at a large booth in the corner, while Puck was at the bar trying to get the number of some brunette.

Standing by the entrance, Rachel took one last breath and groped the jacket close to her chest. Somehow believing that the jacket would provide her with security from whatever fears she was facing. Slowly, she began walking towards the booth. Noticing her, Finn smiled and stood up to meet her.

"I'm shaking. Why am I so nervous?" she whispered toward him, frantically.

"It's a big step, babe. Are you ready?" he asked, looking towards the group of friends who were carrying on with their own conversations.

"I really don't think we have a choice." she smiled nervously as they both looked at the group looking at them with curious eyes. Her heart was pounding. "What about you? Are you ready to profess your love for me?" she asked, laughing as she made the last question sound dramatic.

"I hope I am." he whispered to himself.

"Hey, if your profession sounds Shakespearean and classical, I'll give you an extra reward afterwards." she winked, laughing.

"Okay, then. Let's get our happy ending." he smiled wide. Grabbing her hand in his, she held onto him as if her life depended on it.

Walking up to the booth, Finn sat down and moved over so Rachel could sit beside him. Silence lingered over the table, all eyes on the two. Finally, Santana broke the silence.

"Rachel, nice jacket. Did you lose yours?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Um, no. Actually-" she was cut off by Finn.

"Actually I gave it to her." he smiled.

"Don't you have other jackets? Why the letterman jacket?" Sam asked.

"Umm, because it was the only one that I could find that slightly fit her enough. We were hanging out before we came here. She had to go bring something to the hospital before she got here. That's why we had separate rides. She forgot her jacket at her apartment, so I let her borrow my letterman." he explained, giving Rachel a look pleading her to go along with it.

Feeling her throat burn with anger and a little bit of sadness, she had every right to go off on him, but she decided that she wouldn't loose her cool. It wasn't worth it in a public sports bar. Feeling the tears build up in the corner of her eyes, she looked down and spoke.

"Yeah. We were watching some football game and I offered to go home and get my jacket but Finn insisted that I wear this one. Isn't he so considerate?" she asked, giving Finn a look to let him know that her sarcasm was very much present. " I'm going to go get something to drink. Does anyone want anything?" she asked getting up.

The replies were all no's or not right now's. Finn, on the other hand sat there giving her sorrowful eyes, filled with what she knew was an apology. At this point, she was pissed and she didn't want to see it. "Okay, I'll be right back." she said before she turned and headed for the bar.

Once she got to the bar, she waved the busy bartender down and waited for him to finish tending to his other customers. Once he got to her, she told him what she wanted and waited.

After about a few minutes of waiting, Rachel was still at the bar. It didn't really help that it was a Friday afternoon and many people were getting off of work and beginning to get there weekend's worth of partying on.

"Hey cutie, got a name?" a deep husky voice sounded from behind her. Turning around, she couldn't help but laugh when she saw Puck standing there. At least the man tried.

"Umm, yeah I do. But's its like really long. You can call me 'you suck at pick-up lines and you need to stop stealing the really old ones from the one-hundred year old pick-up line book'. I go by 'you suck' for short." she laughed.

"Oh my gosh Berry, i'm so embarrassed." he frowned, sitting next to her at the bar.

"Yeah. Well, you're not the only one." she sighed, looking back at Finn.

"Is it because of that almost decade old jacket? Why are you wearing Hudson's letterman anyways?' he asked, pointing to it.

"Long story." she replied, really not wanting to talk about it.

"Aww, did you guys finally come to your senses and do the nasty?" he asked, smiling.

"Definitely not!" she immediately responded, laughing on the inside, seeing as though they most definitely did. At least ten times now if she had to be exact. Eleven, depending on how tonight would go. So far, it wasn't looking good.

"Whatever. It's none of my business." he said, throwing his hands up in protest.

"Here's your drink, ma'am." the bartender said, cutting into the conversation.

"Thank you. You can put it on my tab. Tonight's gonna be a long one." she said, grabbing the small glass that contained the whiskey she asked for, and stood up. "Well Puck, nice talking to you and seeing that a blonde set of twins just walked in, good luck." she smiled.

"What? Where?" he asked, looking around.

"Made you look" she laughed as she walked away.

"Dammit!" she heard him yell as she laughed.

Slowly sitting next to Finn again, she ignored his looks. She forgot just how pissed she actually was. Sipping her drink, she tried to concentrate on the conversation going on at the table.

"What are we talking about?" she asked, looking around.

"Finn's mystery girl. She was supposed to come tonight, but something came up." Quinn explained as she leaned against Sam's side and took a sip of water.

"What is that, Finn? Like five times already? We all know that no one likes a canceler. I'm beginning to think that Finn here is making her up in his head." Rachel replied in a angrily sarcastic tone that she hoped only Finn would catch onto, but, by the looks of things, or more like faces, he wasn't the only one. Gulping down the last drop of his beer, Finn set the empty cup on the table and pretended to be generally interested in the pictures on the wall.

Feeling the anger and tears rise, she grabbed the empty cup and stood up. "Here" she said, " let me get that for you." Turning on her heel, she headed back for the bar.

Sitting back down on an empty stool, Rachel placed in the order and waited. While waiting, she placed her head on her hands and shut her eyes for a second. Hearing foot steps behind her, she wiped her tears away, rolled her eyes and turned around.

"Puck, I'm really not in the mood for another lame pick-up line."

"So, I guess it's safe to say that i'm not the only bad guy in your mind tonight."

"Sorry. I thought you were Puck." she replied.

"Yeah, I got that." After a moment of silence, he sat beside her. "Look, I'm really sorry about back there and everything." Finn said, sympathy in his voice.

"Finn, I think it's gonna take a lot more than sorry to explain for what went on back there." she replied, pure anger flaring from her voice. "I thought things were going good for us, you know? I mean considering how many times you've said you loved me. But, I guess my thoughts deceived me." she said.

"Rach, I love you more than you can imagine. Sometimes it scares me how much I love you." he replied, placing his hand on her back as she looked at him with tear-filled eyes.

"Then why couldn't you tell them the truth? Why was it so hard for you to tell them that we're together? When you love someone, you shouldn't have to hide them from the world, like we've been doing for the past few weeks. Are you ashamed of me or something?" she asked, in a low voice.

"Ashamed of you? Rachel, you know that could never be true." Finn said, placing a strand of her hair behind her ear before he placed a hand on top of hers.

"Then why didn't we tell them like you've been promising me since the day we got together. Finn, I have been waiting for this day since high school, and if you really say that you fell in love with me the same time that I did with you, then you should be feeling the exact same way." she explained.

"I do, Rachel. I love you with all of my heart and I need you to know that I could never ever be ashamed of you." he tried to say before she got up from the bar, signing the tab and placing down her credit card. Waiting for the bartender to return with her credit card, she gave Finn the silent treatment. Grabbing her credit card and check when he came back with it, she walked toward the exit. Following behind, Finn started calling her name, trying not to cause that much of a scene.

"Rach, please." he said, catching up behind her, and gently reaching for her arm, careful enough not to hurt her. Turning around, her tears were visible, causing Finn's heart to break a little. He hated when she cried in front of him. Standing there she looked up at him and waited him to say whatever he was going to stay.

"Rach, you have to believe me." he whispered.

"How can I believe you when you never give me any proof?" she asked, "I have already been the girl who wasn't good enough to be acknowledged publicly as a girlfriend. I don't know if you remember Jessie St. James, but I do. Painfully so. I want to be with a guy who's more of a man than that. I thought that you were that guy, but if you can't acknowledge me, then you're not the guy that I spent my whole entire life thinking you were." she sobbed.

"I'm scared, okay." he said, watching her expression change.

"Scared?" she asked, looking confused. "Why are you scared?'

"I'm scared that once we tell everyone that we're together, it won't be just the two of us anymore." he said.

"What the hell are you talking about, Finn?" she asked as she wiped away her tears. They were now standing outside of the bar towards the bar where no one was paying attention to them.

Everyone's going to be asking all of these questions, and knowing Santana, personal boundaries and limits will be pushed. You've heard her comments and remarks already, and that was when we weren't even together. Did I mention all of the questions?" he asked.

"Why didn't you tell me before that you felt this way?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Because you were so excited about telling everyone and I didn't want to disappoint you." he replied.

"You should've told me, Finn. We could've talked it out and avoided all of this instead of going behind each other's backs." she said.

"I know." he replied again.

"Finn, you're overestimating things. Okay, yes, there may be a few questions and Santana will more than likely say some things, but they'll learn to know their boundaries. These people have been in our lives since we were little kids, like you and I, and I'd really like to believe that they'll be in it for a really long time. I don't know about you, but these are the very few people that I know I can trust with my life. I'm also pretty sure that they trust me with their lives too seeing as though they've shared there lives with me and told me some of their deepest and darkest secrets. These people are like my family. So, what kind of trustworthy friends would we be if we kept one of the biggest secrets in our lives right now, Finn?" Rachel asked.

"What if everything changes, Rach? Once they find out, they'll want to know everything and they'll start crowding us. They'll want to know personal details, and they'll notice when we've snuck off to be with just the two of us. We'll never have enough alone time like we used to." he explained.

"Finn Hudson, are you kidding me? Of course we are going to have alone time. If it comes to that point, don't think that I won't tell them to back off and give me and my man some space. We're going to have all the time in the world together and they'll be respective of that, because they understand. You don't think that Sam and Quinn like other people asking them about their sex life, do you? They'll give us the same treatment of privacy. Don't worry, we're going to have all of the alone time in the world. Mama bear needs her alone time, baby." she laughed.

"Mama bear?" Finn smirked as he got closer to her.

"You have yet to see how exactly crazy I can get, Hudson." she smiled.

"I can't wait." he replied.

"Hey, look on the bright side. No more secrets. We'll get to hold hands in public and show the whole entire world just how cheesy we know we are. Finn, I don't want to hide in our apartments, anymore. I want to be the one to walk in the sun." she explained.

"Really, a Cyndi Lauper reference was needed?" he asked.

"Hey, I saw a chance and I took it." Rachel replied, giggling.

"You're a nerd." he laughed.

"I deserved that." she laughed with him.

"There's just one thing.." he said.

"What?" she asked, looking concerned.

"How about we walk in the sun together? I know I've been a huge jerk to you and I really don't deserve your forgiveness, but if you'll still have me-"

"Always and forever." she replied before he could finish talking.

"That's the answer that I was hoping for. Rachel Barbra Berry, I think it's time we let the whole world know your mine. And after we should write a song because that last sentence totally rhymed." he said, before grabbing her hand and pulling her in the direction. As they made their way back into the bar, Rachel stopped him and spoke.

"Your going against your will to do this for me, aren't you?" she asked, looking up at him.

"It's not against my will anymore. I want to do this. For us." he smiled as he walked toward the bar.

"Finn, what are you doing? The booth's over there," she asked with confusion.

"I know. You'll have to wait and see." he said as he turned to the bartender. "Excuse me sir, I'd really love to buy a glass of your finest champagne for every single person in this bar." he said, as the guy's eyes widened.

"Are you going to pay for that now, or should I just leave a tab open?" the bartender asked.

"I think it would be best if you left the tab open." Finn said. "No telling how tonight's going to go." he smiled at him.

"Okay." the bartender replied, going about filling a lot of glasses with champagne.

As soon as everyone in the room received their glasses of champagne, Finn grabbed his and slowly stood up on an empty stool at the bar, gaining the majority of attention in the room.

"Finn, what the hell are you doing? Honey, please get down. You're going to hurt yourself." Rachel said, looking around to see that all of these people would see her boyfriend fall and bust his ass.

Tapping his champagne glass with a spoon, the room fell silent enough to hear a pen fall on the ground. Taking a deep breath, he nervously smiled and looked around the room at all of the expressions.

"Hello, everyone looking at me like I am an idiot, which I probably really look like it. My name is Finn Hudson, and I have a very important announcement to make. But before I make that important announcement, I need to make a pre-announcement. Every single lady in this bar, listen up. If you see a man with a Mohawk walking towards you, or you've invited him to your home tonight, you should probably stay away from him. He's trying to break a record of his many, many one night stands." he said.

"Ah, come on man!" Puck yells causing the crowd to laugh.

"Sorry, man. Tonight's a big night for me and I really need you to be here for it."

"Whatever." Puck said, walking away from where he was.

"Okay, back to why i'm standing on top of a bar stool that could possibly spin at any time causing me to bust my ass in front of all of you. I really don't usually do crazy things like this, but lately I have. See, there's this girl, and she's the reason I do crazy things like this. This girl makes me feel like I can do anything in the world. So, I guess that's why i'm up here. Tonight, I told my friends that she couldn't make it to meet them for like the fifth or sixth time. It's come to the point where they call her the mystery girl. The truth is, she doesn't show up for a reason. A reason that is all of my fault, because this girl has been begging me to be shown to them since we've gotten together. I've been a huge jerk to her and I know I don't deserve her, but somehow she always seems to take me back after I've made a complete fool of myself. Maybe that's why i'm falling head over heels for her a little more every single day. Or maybe it's because of just her alone. I can stand up here all night and tell you all about her. I can sit here for hours just to describe her characteristics. An example, her smile. I could sit here talking about just her smile and you'd be convinced that she was one of the Greek gods. Her eyes, whenever I look into those eyes, I see a world where everyone is happy. When she looks at me with those eyes, there's not a single trace of uncertainty. I look into them and I can honestly say that my heart melts. Her hair, never seems to fail at smelling like strawberries. It flows down her back making her even more beautiful than she already is. There are so many things about her that I can go on and on about, but if I had to pick a favorite, it'd be her laugh. I don't even know where to get started with her laugh. My heart does double takes, and sometimes even stops when I hear it. When you hear it, you just know that you're going to be laughing pretty soon as well. This girl has some sort of magic spell casted over me and I know with all my heart that it'll never wear off. Whenever I wake up and she's not around, I feel a heavy weight on my heart until I see her pretty face and the weight gets lifted off of my heart." he said, smiling down at her. "Now, I bet every single one of you in this bar is wondering who the hell this mysterious girl is that's got me all worked up, right?" he asked, looking around and trying to catch his breath. He'd never given a speech that long in his entire life.

Looking towards his group of friends, he noticed that they seemed to be touched. Santana and Brittany were smiling at him as they held each other's hand, Sam had his arms wrapped around Quinn as she leaned against him as they both watched Finn with smiles on their faces. Quinn seemed to be pretty emotional, seeing as though she was wiping away the very visible tears from her cheeks. Puck, on the other hand, was emotionless. His face was of no expression as he sat next to Santana and Brittany. Leaving the booth, his eyes made their way over to Rachel. He could honestly say that he wasn't surprised when she was the most emotional in the room. A river of tears streamed down her face as she smiled her famous one million dollar smile, that in Finn's opinion could light up a million powerless cities. She clung the large jacket to her small body as she looked up at him like he was a god or something.

Smiling down at her, he took a deep breath and began to speak again to the audience who looked like they were on the edges of their seats to find out who this girl is.

"Well, she's standing in this bar right here and now. Actually, we might need to get her a lot of napkins, because I think a river is flowing down her cheeks." he laughed, which made both the crowd and Rachel laugh as well.

"Baby, I have to say something to you before I tell everyone who you are. This moment is possibly going to change our lives. I want you to know that you're the love of my life." he said, watching as she placed a hand over her mouth and tried not to sob. "It's scary as hell to say it, especially since we've only been together for like a few weeks. I know that things have been going extremely too fast for us. But, I feel that we've waited long enough and know too much about each other to take things really slow. I've been a huge jerk to you. I was the guy who took the beautiful girl and hid her away from the rest of the world. I don't want to be that guy anymore. you don't deserve him. You deserve way better. So, if you're ready, I want to be the one to shine you in the bright sun. Are you ready to take this step in the light with me, love?" he asked, throwing a quick glance towards Rachel, who was shaking her head. Yes.

"Okay. So, there was this old tradition that we used to do at our old high school in Lima, Ohio. The football players would give their letterman jackets to their girlfriends to wear at the football games and on game days. This would let everyone know that they were pulling for their boyfriends. So, tonight, I told my girl to wear my letterman jacket to the bar." he smiled, looking down as everyone looked at Rachel who wasn't paying any attention to them. Instead, she was looking up at Finn with tear filled eyes and a small smile on her face that let Finn know that she had fallen in love with him all over again.

Holding onto the jacket, Rachel looked up at Finn. She could not believe that he had just done that. Rachel lost all hope in men after Jessie broke her heart. Until now. Finn Hudson was always going to be the sweetest and most loving guy in this entire planet. And, after what he was doing for her, she knew with all of her heart that she was the luckiest girl on the planet.

Dead silence fell over the bar as everyone's eyes remained on Rachel. The silence was then interrupted as the sound of a glass shattering on the floor was spread throughout the room, causing everyone to interrupt their strong focus on Rachel and wonder their eyes over to where Finn and Rachel's friends were sitting. Looking their way, Rachel noticed that Santana or Brittany was the one who dropped the glass on the floor. She knew why. Quinn, Sam, and all of the rest of them were looking at her with shock in their eyes. Slightly smiling in their direction, she looked back at Finn who was now motioning for her to join him on top of the stage.

"No way. I'm not going to the hospital tonight, babe." she said, trying to look in the other direction and try to get out of it. He was being stubborn and he kept insisting that she join him on the stool. Finally throwing in the towel, she slowly walked up to the bar stool and grabbed Finn's hands for support as he pulled her up and held her close to him so she wouldn't fall.

"Don't worry. I've got you." she smiled, kissing her forehead.

"I love you so much Finn Hudson. I know forever is a long time, but as long as I get to love you in that measure of time, I'll be okay." she whispered as everyone looked at them standing on the stool.

"Good. Because I was thinking the same thing." he whispered back.

"You're really crazy. I hope you know that." she laughed, looking down at all of the people looking up at them.

"I know. It's what love does to you." he whispered as he hugged her tight before returning to the group of people. "If everyone will, please raise up your glasses because I think we're ready for our big announcement. don't you, honey?" he asked, looking down at Rachel as she clung to him.

"It's about time." she smiled.

"Everyone, this amazingly gorgeous girl standing right next to me is the mystery girl. Rachel Barbara Berry is my girlfriend!" he exclaimed as he raised his glass higher and everyone joyfully cheered.

Gulping down the champagne, Finn jumped down from the stool and held his arms out for Rachel to help her get down. Placing her hands on his muscular shoulders, Rachel jumped and unexpectedly stayed above the floor. Holding her up in his arms, he kissed her will all of the passion and lust he had to offer. Smiling, she returned the kiss and held onto him.

"Rachel Berry, you have no idea what's coming your way. I'm gonna make you so happy." he smiled as he placed her on the ground and held her hand.

"I don't think that's even close to possible." she replied, as they walked towards their friends.

"Challenge accepted." he smiled as they continued walking. On their way to the booth they received so many congratulations, and nice words from so many people. Someone even asked when the wedding was. Finn replied, "You'll be the first to know."

Once they got to the small booth, Rachel's grip tightened around Finn's hand as they looked at the five of them.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. and Mrs. Hudson." Santana commented.

"Yeah, have we missed the wedding or were you guys gonna wait another year to tell us?" Sam asked.

"No doubt they probably hit the sack a million times by now." Puck laughed, putting his hand up for Finn to high five it.

"Dude." Finn replied, looking at Puck. Giving up, he high-fived it and replied. "But yeah!" he said, causing Puck and Sam and surprisingly Santana and Quinn to laugh. Brittany was too busy coloring on the table with colors.

"Finn!" Rachel said, smacking his arm.

"Sorry. Anyways, I was too much of a coward to tell you guys so don't blame any of this on Rachel. Blame me, if you're mad." he told them.

"Mad? Do you guys not know how happy we are for you guys? It's not everyday that two people from a group of friends, who have been best friends for like ever, get together like the two of you. It's about time! This is so Chandler and Monica!" Quinn exclaimed as she got up to hug the both of them.

"Thank you." Rachel smiled, hugging her friend back.

"This is awesome. Now we won't have to hear Rachel go on and on about all of the sexual dreams she's had of you. Oh wait, never mind. Now, we'll have to hear about the real thing." Santana said, smiling at Rachel in a mocking way.

"Sexual dreams, huh?" Finn said, smirking at Rachel.

"Santana, that was supposed to be between the girls." she whispered. Santana simply replied by shrugging her shoulders.

"Sam, do you know what this means?" Quinn asked.

"What?" he asked, looking curious.

"Double dates!" Quinn exclaimed. "Oh my gosh I can't wait. This is going to be so awesome! Yay!"

"Yay.." Finn and Rachel replied, sounding less enthusiastic.

"But, in all seriousness, we're really happy for you guys. If anyone deserves a happy ending, it's the two of you." Santana smiled.

"Yes, I'm glad to see that the two of you aren't going on and on about how scared you are to tell the other how you feel and crushing hard. You guys are finally together and that calls for celebration. This baby is going to make me cry if I keep going on, so all I'm going to say is that I am extremely happy for the two of you and just know that we are always here for you guys! We love you." she smiled, as she wiped away a few extra tears.

"To Finn and Rachel." Sam said raising his empty glass.

"To Finn and Rachel" they repeated holding up their glasses, except for Brittany, who's glass was probably the one that shattered on the floor. Instead, she put up her cup of vodka and club soda.

"Do you guys mind if we step outside for a moment?" Finn asked, wrapping his arms around Rachel.

"You don't need to ask us. Hell, get all the privacy you can. It'll be gone before you know it. Just ask our little Jeremy." Quinn said, as Sam laughed with her.

As they walked outside together, Finn held her close to him as Rachel looked up at the sky.

"You know, tonight really is a pretty night. Even though the stars are almost impossible to see." she said.

"It's even prettier with the view that I have." he said, smiling at her.

"How can you get any sweeter?" she asked, smiling at him.

"You're my girlfriend. That's how." he smiled.

"Finn, I want to thank you even though I have no idea how to. All my life all I wanted was that guy who made me feel loved and wanted and like a princess. To be honest, after Jessie, I was absolutely positive that he didn't exist. But, what you did for me tonight.. That proved that he was always there right by my side, I just never really looked hard enough. I want you to know that you're the love of my life as well and I will never take that for granted. Every second that I get to spend by your side tells me that i'm the luckiest girl alive." she explained, choking up in her voice.

Walking closer to her, he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm going to say this with the biggest risk of sounding like the cheesiest man alive. You'll always be mine, Rachel. My heart will always be reserved for you. You have my heart right now. I'm not saying that everything is going to be perfect. Because there's going to be arguments and fights and someone will probably kick over a chair. That someone probably being me. But, we'll get through every single one of them because you're everything to me. I will spend the rest of my life making sure that you know that you own my heart. I will love you 5-ever." he smiled as he hugged her close to him.

"5-ever?" she asked, looking up at him confused.

"4-ever is just way too short." he replied, causing her to laugh as she hugged him tighter.

After a minute of holding each other, Finn spoke again.

"So, those sexual dreams of me.. What was that about?" he asked in a husky voice.

"I knew you'd bring that up!" she laughed, pushing him away from her.

"Was I like hot?" he asked.

"Not as much as you are in person." she replied.

"Really?" he asked pulling her closer to him.

"Maybe. That speech you made on top of that stool made you a lot more sexy than you were before. If humanly possible, might I add." she giggled.

"I tried my best to make it all Shakespearean and classical, but you know that I've never been good at English in school." he replied.

"Are you kidding me? I don't know how it could've gotten any better." she said.

"Really?" he asked.

"You want to know what I think?" she asked.

"What?" he asked.

"That speech that you made up there for me was more romantic than Romeo's monologue to Juliet, in my opinion." she smiled.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Mostly because I slept through Romeo and Juliet when we read it in class. But, I'll take that as a good thing." he laughed.

"Come here, you big goof." she laughed back as he took her in his arms. Smiling, she rested her head on his chest. Taking her right hand into his left, they began swaying back and forth as they danced in the middle of an empty side walk to no music.

Rachel felt like she was in the 1940's and she had just one more night to spend with the love of her life before he was going off to fight the war. As they danced to no music in the sidewalk, Rachel could hear the soft jazz music that would be played if this was a movie about the story she imagined. Closing her eyes, she smiled and held onto him as if the night would never end. Suddenly stopping, Rachel looked up at Finn who was smiling down on her.

"What's going on?" she asked, as he began digging in her pocket.

Opening her hand, Finn placed a silver metal object in her hand. Looking down at it, she looked back up at Finn with surprise. It was a key.

"I know you probably already have a key to my apartment. But, this is different. It symbols something different. Like I said earlier, it's scary how fast we're moving and possibly unrealistic. But, as long as you're by my side I don't care." he explained as she looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"Rachel, will you do me the honor of moving in with me?" he asked.

Closing her fingers around the key, she held it to her heart and looked back up at him.

"Always and forever."

* * *

**Chapter 13 is finally finished! I'm so sorry that it took so long to be completed. I've had a bit of a writer's block lately. With all of the studying and stress that school has caused me lately, I've never had any time to write. I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter. And, I promise that I will try to get the next one up pretty soon. Also, i'm trying to wrap this one up, so look forward to the last chapter pretty soon. Thank you all for reading and leaving reviews! Like said before, I always read them and I appreciate every single one. Let me know what you think! Thanks! I really hope you all enjoyed! :) See you soon..**


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